What does "baroque" mean?
An ornate, detailed style.
Baroque
/bəˈɹoʊk/ adj, name, noun
adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An ornate, detailed style.
- Grammar: baroque is listed as adj, name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: adorned, arabesque, architecture, art.
- Useful contrasts: modern furniture, modern furniture design, unpretentious.
- Usage evidence: She prefers quiet music - the baroque, for example.
How to use "baroque"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "baroque" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "baroque" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "baroque" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "baroque" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "baroque" is acting as adj, name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adorned" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "baroque", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An ornate, detailed style.
"[…] has semi-circular arches similar to those in Bourges, but pierced by unusual and irregular openings, and ringed with amusing portrait heads such as would not be found in the great Gothic Baroques of France."
- 2 elaborate and extensive ornamentation in decorative art and architecture that flourished in Europe in the 17th century wordnet
Adjective
- 1 From or characteristic of the Baroque period.
- 2 Ornate, intricate, decorated, laden with detail.
- 3 Complex and beautiful, despite an outward irregularity.
- 4 Chiseled from stone, or shaped from wood, in a garish, crooked, twisted, or slanted sort of way, grotesque.
- 5 Embellished with figures and forms such that every level of relief gives way to more details and contrasts.
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 Characteristic of Western art and music of the Early Modern period. capitalized, sometimes
- 7 Overly and needlessly complicated. figuratively
"grotesquely baroque bureaucratic hassles"
Adjective
- 1 having elaborate symmetrical ornamentation wordnet
- 2 of or relating to or characteristic of the elaborately ornamented style of architecture, art, and music popular in Europe between 1600 and 1750 wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 A period in Western architecture, art, and music from c. 1600–1760 CE, known for its abundance of drama, rich color, and extensive ornamentation.
- 2 The chess variant invented in 1962 by mathematician Robert Abbott, or any of its descendants, where pieces move alike, but have differing methods of capture.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"She prefers quiet music - the baroque, for example."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "baroque"?
Common synonyms include: adorned, arabesque, architecture, art, attic prose, baroque age.
How do you use "baroque" in a sentence?
She prefers quiet music - the baroque, for example.
How do you pronounce "baroque"?
Pronounced /bəˈɹoʊk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Via French (which originally meant a pearl of irregular shape) from Portuguese barroco (“irregular pearl”); related to Spanish barrueco and Italian barocco and Sicilian baroccu, of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly from Latin verruca (“wart”), or possibly from the technical construction of scholastic logic, Baroco.
Etymology 2
Via French baroque (which originally meant a pearl of irregular shape), from Portuguese barroco (“irregular pearl”); related to Spanish barrueco and Italian barocco, of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly from Latin verrūca (“wart”). It has been suggested that the term derives from Baroco, a technical term from scholastic logic.