formalesque

F4O1R1M3A1L1E1S1Q10U1E1

adjective

modernist; of the artistic style of the period from around 1890 to 1960

Scrabble 25
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectiveformalesque (not comparable)
  1. not comparableartmodernist; of the artistic style of the period from around 1890 to 1960

Origin

From formal + -esque; coined in 1994 by Australian art historian Bernard Smith, since the period referred to by "modernist" was by then no longer modern.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

formalesque. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formalesque

MLA

“formalesque.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formalesque. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “formalesque,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/formalesque.

Source: formalesque on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.