Skeuomorphic
//skjuːəˈmɔːfɪk// adj
adj ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Pertaining to skeuomorphs, obsolete design elements which are retained for familiarity or out of tradition, even though they no longer serve any functional purpose.
"And just as “expectancy” caused the transfer of thong-work from the flint axe, where it was functional, to the bronze celt, where it was skeuomorphic, it carried the chevrons and cruciforms of basketry to the decoration of earthen vessels."
Example
More examples"And just as “expectancy” caused the transfer of thong-work from the flint axe, where it was functional, to the bronze celt, where it was skeuomorphic, it carried the chevrons and cruciforms of basketry to the decoration of earthen vessels."
Etymology
From skeuomorph + -ic.
More for "skeuomorphic"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.