rococo

[ ruh-koh-koh, roh-kuh-koh ]

noun

1. a style of architecture and decoration, originating in France about 1720, evolved from Baroque types and distinguished by its elegant refinement in using different materials for a delicate overall effect and by its ornament of shellwork, foliage, etc.
2. a homophonic musical style of the middle 18th century, marked by a generally superficial elegance and charm and by the use of elaborate ornamentation and stereotyped devices.

adjective

1. (initial capital letter) Fine Arts.
   1. noting or pertaining to a style of painting developed simultaneously with the rococo in architecture and decoration, characterized chiefly by smallness of scale, delicacy of color, freedom of brushwork, and the selection of playful subjects as thematic material.
   2. designating a corresponding style of sculpture, chiefly characterized by diminutiveness of Baroque forms and playfulness of theme.
2. of, pertaining to, in the manner of, or suggested by rococo architecture, decoration, or music or the general atmosphere and spirit of the rococo:

   rococo charm.

3. ornate or florid in speech, literary style, etc.

rococo

/ rəˈkəʊkəʊ /

noun

1. a style of architecture and decoration that originated in France in the early 18th century, characterized by elaborate but graceful, light, ornamentation, often containing asymmetrical motifs
2. an 18th-century style of music characterized by petite prettiness, a decline in the use of counterpoint, and extreme use of ornamentation
3. any florid or excessively ornamental style

adjective

1. denoting, being in, or relating to the rococo
2. florid or excessively elaborate

rococo

1. A style of baroque art and architecture popular in Europe during the eighteenth century, characterized by flowing lines and elaborate decoration.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rococo¹

First recorded in 1830–40; from French, akin to rocaille “use of pebbles and shells in ornamental work; pebble-work”; rocaille

Word History and Origins

Origin of rococo¹

C19: from French, from rocaille , from roc rock ¹

Example Sentences

This chicken features a thin, abundant crust with so many facets and angles you want to call it rococo.

From The Daily Beast

The bar drips with rococo flourishes, from the ornate marble fireplace to the lavish gilded mirror.

From The Daily Beast

Sascha Hertli, chief executive of Rococo Dessous, discovered the missing sparkle while a consultant in oil-rich Qatar.

From The Daily Beast

But in Russia, the Rococo Dessous customer generally is a man.

From The Daily Beast

That said, Dickens' genius for the creation of comic characters is worked almost to rococo excess in this novel.

From The Daily Beast

A small palace, also rococo, peeped out behind a clump of bushy oaks.

From Project Gutenberg

Finally, in the eighteenth century, comes rococo, with its rustling frou-frou and its delicate charm.

From Project Gutenberg

Amongst the elders of the actual rococo age, contentment and gaiety still rule.

From Project Gutenberg

Shall I buy you Mademoiselle de Maupin, so that all her rococo soul may dance with gilded limbs across your vision?

From Project Gutenberg

Thus Diderot upheld the sentimental and emotional subject against the ftes galantes of the rococo painter.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• ornate