baroque

Etymology

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 verruca (“wart”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bæˈɹɒk/

Rhymes: -ɒk

• (US) IPA^(key): /bəˈɹoʊk/

Rhymes: -əʊk

Adjective

baroque (comparative more baroque, superlative most baroque)

1. ornate, intricate, decorated, laden with detail.
2. complex and beautiful, despite an outward irregularity.
3. chiseled from stone, or shaped from wood, in a garish, crooked, twisted, or slanted sort of way, grotesque.
4. embellished with figures and forms such that every level of relief gives way to more details and contrasts.

Anagrams

• Baquero

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.ʁɔk/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

baroque (plural baroques)

1. baroque (all senses)

Further reading

• “baroque” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).