Chinoiserie
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A style in art, or an artistic object, that reflects the influence of Chinese art. countable, uncountable
"The Baroness perceived that her entertainer had analyzed material comfort to a sufficiently fine point. And then he possessed the most delightful chinoiseries—trophies of his sojourn in the Celestial Empire: pagodas of ebony and cabinets of ivory; sculptured monsters, grinning and leering on chimney-pieces, in front of beautifully figured hand-screens; […]"
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of chinoiserie. alt-of, countable, uncountable
- 3 a style in art reflecting Chinese influence; elaborately decorated and intricately patterned wordnet
Example
More examples"The Baroness perceived that her entertainer had analyzed material comfort to a sufficiently fine point. And then he possessed the most delightful chinoiseries—trophies of his sojourn in the Celestial Empire: pagodas of ebony and cabinets of ivory; sculptured monsters, grinning and leering on chimney-pieces, in front of beautifully figured hand-screens; […]"
Etymology
Borrowed from French chinoiserie (“Chinese-esque”).
More for "chinoiserie"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.