1
: marked by elaborate rhetoric (see rhetoric sense 2b) or florid (see florid sense 1a) style
He is clear and simple rather than ornate and pompous.—
The Times Literary Supplement (London)
The Times Literary Supplement (London)2
: elaborately or excessively decorated
an ornate mantle
an ornate townhouse
ornate chandeliers
ornately
adverb
ornateness
noun
Synonyms of ornate
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 on the Web
Worshippers arriving for the day's first prayers found the damage and a smoldering fire that spewed black smoke across the entrance of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in the town of Tell, near Nablus, and stained the ornate doorway.
—Aref Tufaha, Arkansas Online, 24 Feb. 2026
Jetten and his team of ministers took their oath of office in the presence of King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall of the royal palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague.
—Mike Corder, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
Despite the novelty of this world having been exhausted on me long ago, seeing twelve identical borzois in a row, echoing the ornate, spindly verticality of a Gothic revival palace, still tripped me out.
—Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
Jetten and his team of ministers were took their oath of office in the presence of King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall of the royal palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague.
—ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ornate
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Aref Tufaha, Arkansas Online, 24 Feb. 2026
Jetten and his team of ministers took their oath of office in the presence of King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall of the royal palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague.
—Mike Corder, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2026
Despite the novelty of this world having been exhausted on me long ago, seeing twelve identical borzois in a row, echoing the ornate, spindly verticality of a Gothic revival palace, still tripped me out.
—Andrew Norman Wilson, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
Jetten and his team of ministers were took their oath of office in the presence of King Willem-Alexander in the ornate Orange Hall of the royal palace in a forest on the edge of The Hague.
—ABC News, 23 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ornate
Cite this Entry
“Ornate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ornate. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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