classical

adjective more classical · most classical

1. Of or relating to the first class or rank, especially in literature or art. ... Mr. Greaves, who may be juſtly reckoned a Claſſical Author on this Subject.
2. Of or pertaining to established principles in a discipline. Herbarium material does not, indeed, allow one to extrapolate safely: what you see is what you get; what you get is classical alpha-taxonomy which is, very largely and for sound reasons, in disrepute today.

   Similar: traditional, conventional, canonical · Opposite: modern, experimental

3. Describing Western music and musicians of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

   Opposite: popular, contemporary

4. informal Describing art music (rather than pop, jazz, blues, etc), especially when played using instruments of the orchestra.
5. Of or pertaining to the ancient Greeks and Romans, especially to Greek or Roman authors of the highest rank, or of the period when their best literature was produced; of or pertaining to places inhabited by the ancient Greeks and Romans, or rendered famous by their deeds. He [Atterbury] directed the classical studies of the undergraduates of his college.

   Similar: ancient, Hellenic, Roman

6. Knowledgeable or skilled in the classics; versed in the classics. a classical scholar
7. Conforming to the best authority in literature and art; chaste; pure; refined classical dance
8. Pertaining to models of physical laws that do not take quantum or relativistic effects into account; Newtonian or Maxwellian.

   Opposite: quantum, relativistic

9. Pertaining to mathematical frameworks or methods which permit proof by contradiction; nonconstructive, based on classical logic. On the other hand, we can now also show that corresponding statements looking like the classical law of double negation and law of excluded middle are incompatible with the univalence axiom.

   Opposite: intuitionistic, constructive

Similar: classic

noun classicals

1. countable One that is classical in some way; for example, a classical economist. Similarly, the new classicals never claimed to be Austrians, nor did they ever make the attempt to meet Austrian objections. Therefore, we cannot fault them for not using this methodology. Nevertheless, new classicals constantly preach […]
2. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of classical music
3. abbreviation, countable, ellipsis, uncountable Ellipsis of classical chess When I want to have fun I play blitz. When I want to go deeper and work on improving my game, I play classical and I try to do it in tournament settings.