{ } a. Made or decorated after the fanciful style of the ornamentation in the Alhambra, which affords an unusually fine exhibition of Saracenic or Arabesque architecture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. arabesque, fr. It. arabesco, fr. Arabo Arab. ] A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See Moresque.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco-Roman work. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Arabian. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque; as, arabesque frescoes. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ornamented in the style of arabesques. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. resembling a tree in form and branching structure.
Syn. -- arboreal, arboreous, arborescent, arboriform, dendriform, dendroid, dendroidal, treelike, tree-shaped. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. 1. of or pertaining to W. H. Auden. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Barbaric in form or style; as, barbaresque architecture. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Painting) Characterized by blots or heavy touches; coarsely depicted; wanting in delineation. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. burlesque, fr. It. burlesco, fr. burla jest, mockery, perh. for burrula, dim. of L. burrae trifles. See Bur. ] Tending to excite laughter or contempt by extravagant images, or by a contrast between the subject and the manner of treating it, as when a trifling subject is treated with mock gravity; jocular; ironical. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is a dispute among the critics, whether burlesque poetry runs best in heroic verse, like that of the Dispensary, or in doggerel, like that of Hudibras. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Ludicrous representation; exaggerated parody; grotesque satire. [ 1913 Webster ]

Burlesque is therefore of two kinds; the first represents mean persons in the accouterments of heroes, the other describes great persons acting and speaking like the basest among the people. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An ironical or satirical composition intended to excite laughter, or to ridicule anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

The dull burlesque appeared with impudence,
And pleased by novelty in spite of sense. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A ludicrous imitation; a caricature; a travesty; a gross perversion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who is it that admires, and from the heart is attached to, national representative assemblies, but must turn with horror and disgust from such a profane burlesque and abominable perversion of that sacred institute? Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Mockery; farce; travesty; mimicry. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Burlesqued p. pr. & vb. n. Burlesquing ] To ridicule, or to make ludicrous by grotesque representation in action or in language. [ 1913 Webster ]

They burlesqued the prophet Jeremiah's words, and turned the expression he used into ridicule. Stillingfleet. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To employ burlesque. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who burlesques. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. It. Dantesco. ] Dantelike; Dantean. Earle. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ F., fr. It. -isco. Cf. -ish. ] A suffix of certain words from the French, Italian, and Spanish. It denotes manner or style; like; as, arabesque, after the manner of the Arabs. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. ] Befitting a giant; bombastic; magniloquent. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sort of mock-heroic gigantesque
With which we bantered little Lilia first. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F., fr. It. grottesco, fr. grotta grotto. See Grotto. ] 1. Like the figures found in ancient grottoes; grottolike. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Wildly or strangely formed; whimsical; extravagant; of irregular forms and proportions; fantastic; ludicrous; antic. “Grotesque design.” Dryden. “Grotesque incidents.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A whimsical figure, or scene, such as is found in old crypts and grottoes. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Artificial grotto-work. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a grotesque manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being grotesque. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Written also grotesquerie. ] [ From Grotesque. ] Grotesque action, speech, or manners; grotesque doings; ludicrous or incongruous unnaturalness or distortion. “The sustained grotesquery of Feather-top.” K. L. Bates.
Syn. -- grotesqueness. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. + WordNet 1.5 ]

Vileness, on the other hand, becomes grotesquerie, wonderfully converted into a subject of laughter. George Gissing. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

adj. of, pertaining to, or in the style of Victor Hugo. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. a. suggestive of a statue.
Syn. -- statuesque. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. a. [ fr. Franz Kafka, novelist; especially from his novels such as "The Trial". ] Frightening, threating, and bewildering in a vague and unexplicable way; -- of situations or regulations. Often used to describe illogical bureaucratic entanglements with no reasonable solution. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. a. Of, pertaining to, or in the style of Rudyard Kipling. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

prop. n. A genus of low-growing hairy herbs, comprising some of the bladderpods.
Syn. -- genus Lesquerella. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. & n. See Moresque. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. adj. Of or pertaining to Michelangelo. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ F., fr. It. moresco, or Sp. morisco. See Morris. ] Of or pertaining to, or in the manner or style of, the Moors; Moorish. -- n. The Moresque style of architecture or decoration. See Moorish architecture, under Moorish. [ Written also mauresque. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F., fr. Sp. picaro rogue. ] Applied to that class of literature in which the principal personage is the Spanish picaro, meaning a rascal, a knave, a rogue, an adventurer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ It. pittoresco: cf. F. pittoresque. See Pictorial. ] Forming, or fitted to form, a good or pleasing picture; representing with the clearness or ideal beauty appropriate to a picture; expressing that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture, natural or artificial; graphic; vivid; as, a picturesque scene or attitude; picturesque language. [ 1913 Webster ]

What is picturesque as placed in relation to the beautiful and the sublime? It is . . . the characteristic pushed into a sensible excess. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Pic`tur*esque"ly, adv. -- Pic`tur*esque"ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Sp. resco, from plata silver. ] (Arch.) Resembling silver plate; -- said of certain architectural ornaments. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Raphaelesque. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like Raphael's works; in Raphael's manner of painting. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. romanesque; cf. It. romanesco. ] 1. (Arch.) Somewhat resembling the Roman; -- applied sometimes to the debased style of the later Roman empire, but esp. to the more developed architecture prevailing from the 8th century to the 12th. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Of or pertaining to romance or fable; fanciful. [ 1913 Webster ]

Romanesque style (Arch.), that which grew up from the attempts of barbarous people to copy Roman architecture and apply it to their own purposes. This term is loosely applied to all the styles of Western Europe, from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the appearance of Gothic architecture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Romanesque style. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. After the manner of sculpture; resembling, or relating to, sculpture. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Partaking of, or exemplifying, the characteristics of a statue; having the symmetry, or other excellence, of a statue artistically made; as, statuesquelimbs; a statuesque attitude. [ 1913 Webster ]

Their characters are mostly statuesque even in this respect, that they have no background. Hare. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a statuesque manner; in a way suggestive of a statue; like a statue. [ 1913 Webster ]

A character statuesquely simple in its details. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

See obnoxious.
See observable.
See observant.
See obstructive.
See obvious.
See official.
See officious.
See oppressive.
See ordinary.
See ordinate.
See original.
See ornamental.
See orthodox.
See ostentatious.
See pacifiable.
See pacific.
See painful.
See palatable.
See parallelable.
See pardonable.
See partable.
See participant.
See passionate.
See pastoral.
See pathetic.
See patriotic.
See peaceable.
See peaceful.
See pedantic.
See perceivable.
See perceptible.
See perilous.
See permanent.
See personable.
See perspirable.
See persuadable.
See persuasive.
See philanthropic.
See philosophic.
See philosophical.
See physical.
See picturesque.
See pierceable.
See pitiful.
See plain.
See plausible.
See plausive.
See pleadable.
See pleasurable.
See pliable.
See pliant.
See plumb.
See poetic.
See poetical.
See political.
See popular.
See populous.
See portable.
See potable.
See precarious.
See precise.
See pregnant.
See prejudicate.
See prelatical.
See premeditable.
See presentable.
See preservable.
See presumptuous.
See pretentious.
See pretty.
See prevalent.
See priestly.
See primitive.
See princely.
See procurable.
See producible.
See productive.
See professional.
See profitable.
See prolific.
See pronounceable.
See prophetic.
See propitious.
See proportionable.
See proportionate.
See prosperous.
See provable.
See punctilious.
See punctual.
See punishable.
See pure.
See qualifiable.
See quenchable.
See quiet.
See rational.
See readable.
See reasonable.
See recallable.
See reclaimable.
See recognizable.
See reconcilable.
See recoverable.
See recumbent.
See reformable.
See refusable.
See regardable.
See regardant.
See relative.
See relievable.
See reluctant.
See remarkable.
See remediable.
See rememberable.
See remorseful.
See removable.
See remunerative.
See repairable.
See repealable.
See repentant.
See reprovable.
See repugnant.
See requisite.
See requitable.
See resolvable.
See respectable.
See restful.
See retentive.
See returnable.
See revengeful.
See ridable.
See ridiculous.
See rightful.
See romantic.
See rough.
See royal.
See ruinable.
See ruly.
See sacrificial.
See safe.
See sage.
See sailable.
See salable.
See sane.
See sanguine.
See sanitary.
See satisfactory.
See satisfiable.
See saturable.
See savory.
See scalable.
See scaly.
See scholarly.
See scholastic.
See scientific.
See scornful.
See scriptural.
See sculptural.
See seaworthy.
See sectarian.
See secular.
See sedentary.
See selfish.
See sentient.
See sentimental.
See serviceable.
See severe.
See shamefaced.
See shamefast.
See shapely.
See shy.
See sick.
See sicker.
See sightly.
See simple.
See sinewy.
See sizable.
See sleek.
See slumberous.
See sly.
See smooth.
See smotherable.
See smutty.
See sober.
See sociable.
See social.
See solemn.
See soliciutous.
See solvable.
See speakable.
See speedy.
See spiritual.
See spontaneous.
See sportful.
See sportsmanlike.
See statutable.
See steadfast.
See steady.
See stormy.
See stout.
See strong.
See subduable.
See subject.
See submissive.
See subordinate.
See substantial.
See successive.
See succorable.
See suggestive.
See suitable.
See sunny.
See superfluous.
See supple.
See sure.
See surpassable.
See susceptible.
See suspect.
See suspectable.
See suspicious.
See sustainable.
See sweet.
See syllogistical.
See symbolic.
See sympathetic.
See systematic.
See tamable.
See tame.
See teachable.
See technical.
See tellable.
See tenable.
See tender.
See terrestrial.
See terrific.
See thankful.
See theological.
See thinkable.
See thirsty.
See thorny.
See thoughtful.
See tidy.
See tillable.
See toothsome.
See touchable.
See traceable.
See tractable.
See tragic.
See tranquil.
See transferable.
See translatable.
See transmutable.
See transparent.
See transpassable.
See traversable.
See tremulous.
See trimphant.
See trustworthy.
See trusty.
See tumultous.
See tunable.
See uniform.
See usable.
See useful.
See vanquishable.
See variant.
See venerable.
See venomous.
See veracious.
See verdant.
See veritable.
See vigilant.
See vigorous.
See virtuous.
See vital.
See vitrifiable.
See vocal.
See voidable.
See voluptuous.
See voyageable.
See vulgar.
See walkable.
See warlike.
See watchful.
See watery.
See wealthy.
See wearable.
See weary.
See welcome.
See wet.
See wholesome.
See wieldsome.
See willful.
See wily.
See witty.
See womanly.
See workable.
See workmanlike.
See worldly.
See worshipful.
See wrathful.
See writable.
See zealous.
------ and the like.
[ 1913 Webster ]

a. In the style of Zola (see Zolaism). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]