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ornate

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ornate¹

  • /ɔɹˈneɪt/ US

Rhymes with -eɪt

Where it comes from

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné.

adjective more ornate · most ornate

  1. Elaborately ornamented, often to excess. The house of Ruthven was a small but ultra-modern limestone affair, between Madison and Fifth ;[…]. As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermic

    Similar: fancy

  2. Flashy, flowery or showy.
  3. Finely finished, as a style of composition. a graceful and ornate rhetoric

ornate²

Where it comes from

From Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare French orner.

verb ornates · ornating · ornated

  1. obsolete To adorn or honour (someone or something). And truely thoſe that lyue in the feare of god, (conſydering that they ſerue not only their carnal maiſters, but God hymſelfe,) they be in a good caſe: but they may not bee eye ſeruauntes. […] Saincte Paule woulde haue them to lyue ſo, that they maye ornate and ſanctifye the name of God.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: embellished, rhetorical, adorned, decorated, flowery, ornamented, flashy, busy, rococo, baroque, arable, florid, elaborate, opulent, intricate, detailed

Translations

Every language

adj elaborately ornamented, often to excess

Deutschkunstvoll, ornamentreich, reich verziert

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MLA

"ornate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/ornate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

ornate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/ornate

Chicago

"ornate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/ornate.

BibTeX
@misc{ornate_2026,
  title = {ornate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/ornate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}