ornate

Definition

Elaborately ornamented, often to excess.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné.

Example Sentences

• "The house of Ruthven was a small but ultra-modern limestone affair, between Madison and Fifth ;[…]. As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-aissance.”"
• "a graceful and ornate rhetoric"

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