baroque

comparative baroquer · superlative baroquest

1. Ornate, intricate, decorated, laden with detail.
2. Complex and beautiful, despite an outward irregularity.
3. Chiseled from stone, or shaped from wood, in a garish, crooked, twisted, or slanted sort of way, grotesque.
4. Embellished with figures and forms such that every level of relief gives way to more details and contrasts.
5. capitalizedsometimesCharacteristic of Western art and music of the Early Modern period.

   According to baroque.org, characteristics of baroque music include loud and soft dynamics, emphasis on harmony, and the use of string instruments and the harpsichord.

   2022 May 2, Mary Beth Bauermann, “Bach-Rock: When Rock Went Baroque”, in Flat Hat Magazine, archived from the original on 09 Jul 2025

6. figurativelyOverly and needlessly complicated.

   grotesquely baroque bureaucratic hassles

   1 more example

   baroque bookkeeping in pursuit of tax dodges

plural baroques

1. An ornate, detailed style.

   […] has semi-circular arches similar to those in Bourges, but pierced by unusual and irregular openings, and ringed with amusing portrait heads such as would not be found in the great Gothic Baroques of France.

   2003, Michael Jacobs, The Road to Santiago, page 103

comparative more Baroque · superlative most Baroque

1. artFrom or characteristic of the Baroque period.

1. artA period in Western architecture, art, and music from c. 1600–1760 CE, known for its abundance of drama, rich color, and extensive ornamentation.
2. The chess variant invented in 1962 by mathematician Robert Abbott, or any of its descendants, where pieces move alike, but have differing methods of capture.

   Synonyms: Ultima