ornate

adjective or·nate \ ȯr-ˈnāt \

Definition of ornate

1 :marked by elaborate rhetoric (see rhetoric 2b) or florid (see florid 1b) style

is clear and simple rather than ornate and pompous
—The Times Literary Supplement (London)

2 :elaborately or excessively decorated

an ornate mantle

an ornate townhouse

ornate chandeliers

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ornately

adverb

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ornateness

noun

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Examples of ornate in a Sentence

She doesn't like ornate jewelry.
an ornate gambling casino that is designed to look like an Italian palace

Recent Examples of ornate from the Web

The ornate, melodramatic commercials for Adidas and Taco Bell that showed during the broadcast were more invigorating than many of this year’s nominated videos.

— jon caramanica, New York Times, "Pop Star Egos Are Pushed Aside at Wacky, Socially Aware MTV V.M.A.s," 28 Aug. 2017
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg Ruler of the Roost Hood ornaments on classic cars such as this 1930 Delage D8C Chapron Cabriolet were often ornate, heavy, and irreplaceable.

— hannah elliott, Bloomberg.com, "Get Up Close and Personal With the World’s Top Classic Cars," 21 Aug. 2017
More than 100 people were shot dead in the first half of the year in Sinaloa, and the cemetery is filled with ornate, two-story mausoleums for drug kings, larger than many homes for the living.

— maria verza, The Seattle Times, "A journalist’s murder underscores growing threat in Mexico," 4 Aug. 2017
To drive home this connection between the 1950s and the 1700s, curators have even recreated the famous Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau de Versailles, the ornate gallery where French nobility once paraded their finery.

— rhonda garelick, The Cut, "Why It Matters That Melania Wore Dior in Paris Last Week," 21 July 2017
Hidden in an urban landscape, the cemetery has 100 species of trees and variety of plants, war memorials and ornate statues.

— scott wartman, Cincinnati.com, "NKY Notebook: Cemetery to become temporary movie theater," 20 July 2017
A slice of that brick relic remains, facing Spring Street with windows outlined in gorgeously ornate cast-iron frames (but partially hidden behind a fire escape).

— justin davidson, Daily Intelligencer, "The Strange State of New York’s Street-Level Retail Storefronts," 14 July 2017
Most of the furniture was a dark lacquered finish with gold touches and the chairs were made out of ornate bamboo.

— lauren smith, House Beautiful, "How Princess Diana Decorated Her Private Quarters in Kensington Palace," 10 July 2017
Hundreds of students have studied abroad in the ornate building that served as a Jewish school for the deaf and blind before the Holocaust.

— tim prudente, baltimoresun.com, "McDaniel College's Budapest campus caught up in Hungarian politicial fight," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'ornate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.