classicism

[ klas-uh-siz-uhm ]

noun

1. the principles or styles characteristic of the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome.
2. adherence to such principles.
3. the classical style in literature and art, or adherence to its principles ( romanticism ). Compare classical ( def 7 ).
4. a Greek or Latin idiom or form, especially one used in some other language.
5. classical scholarship or learning.

classicism

/ ˈklæsɪˌsɪzəm; ˈklæsɪkəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. a style based on the study of Greek and Roman models, characterized by emotional restraint and regularity of form, associated esp with the 18th century in Europe; the antithesis of romanticism Compare neoclassicism
2. knowledge or study of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome
3. 1. a Greek or Latin form or expression
   2. an expression in a modern language, such as English, that is modelled on a Greek or Latin form

classicism

1. An approach to aesthetics that favors restraint, rationality, and the use of strict forms in literature, painting, architecture, and other arts. It flourished in ancient Greece and Rome , and throughout Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Classicists often derived their models from the ancient Greeks and Romans.

Notes

Classicism is sometimes considered the opposite of romanticism .

Other Words From

• clas·si·cis·tic [klas-, uh, -, sis, -tik], adjective
• anti·classi·cal·ism noun
• anti·classi·cism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of classicism¹

First recorded in 1820–30; classic + -ism

Example Sentences

Cruella’s vibe is the metal-studded antithesis of the Baroness’ classicism.

From The Daily Beast

The revival of classicism in architecture is traced to the individual efforts of Thomas Jefferson.

From Project Gutenberg

The demands which this new classicism made were able to be satisfied by no one any longer, not even by Vien.

From Project Gutenberg

In the very personalities of these two the whole opposition between Classicism and the Nazarenes is reflected.

From Project Gutenberg

And Hlne de Sparte, which in its outward form manifests a return to classicism, handles purely moral, eternal problems.

From Project Gutenberg

The first of these books is one that still bears 9considerable traces of classicism.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• grandeur