classical
of, relating to, or characteristic of Greek and Roman antiquity: classical literature;classical languages.
conforming to ancient Greek and Roman models in literature or art, or to later systems modeled upon them.
marked by classicism: classical simplicity.
Music.
of, relating to, or constituting the formally and artistically more sophisticated and enduring types of music, as distinguished from popular and folk music and jazz. Classical music includes symphonies, operas, sonatas, song cycles, and lieder.
of, pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to the well-ordered, chiefly homophonic musical style of the latter half of the 18th and the early 19th centuries: Haydn and Mozart are classical composers.
Architecture.
noting or pertaining to the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome, especially the religious and public architecture, characterized by the employment of orders.: Compare order (def. 27b).
noting or pertaining to any of several styles of architecture closely imitating the architecture of ancient Greece or Rome; neoclassic.
noting or pertaining to architectural details or motifs adapted from ancient Greek or Roman models.
(of an architectural design) simple, reposeful, well-proportioned, or symmetrical in a manner suggesting the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome.
(often initial capital letter) pertaining to or designating the style of fine arts, especially painting and sculpture, developed in Greece during the 5th and 4th centuries b.c., chiefly characterized by balanced composition, the separation of figures from an architectural background, and the naturalistic rendering of anatomical details, spatial movement, and distribution of weight in a figure.: Compare archaic (def. 4), Hellenistic (def. 5).
of or relating to a style of literature and art characterized by conformity to established treatments, taste, or critical standards, and by attention to form with the general effect of regularity, simplicity, balance, proportion, and controlled emotion (contrasted with romantic).
pertaining to or versed in the ancient classics: a classical scholar.
relating to or teaching academic branches of knowledge, as the humanities, general sciences, etc., as distinguished from technical subjects.
(of a given field of knowledge) accepted as standard and authoritative, as distinguished from novel or experimental: classical physics.
Ecclesiastical. pertaining to a classis.
classical music: a jazz pianist who studied classical for years.
Origin of classical
1Other words from classical
- clas·si·cal·i·ty, clas·si·cal·ness, noun
- clas·si·cal·ly, adverb
- an·ti·clas·si·cal, adjective
- an·ti·clas·si·cal·ly, adverb
- an·ti·clas·si·cal·ness, noun
- hy·per·clas·si·cal, adjective
- hy·per·clas·si·cal·i·ty, noun
- non·clas·si·cal·i·ty, noun
- pre·clas·si·cal, adjective
- pre·clas·si·cal·ly, adverb
- pro·clas·si·cal, adjective
- qua·si-clas·si·cal·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with classical
- classic, classical
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use classical in a sentence
This showcasing of classical culinary skill and American bounty became the prototype for diplomatic dinners and executive functions thereafter.
George Washington’s 1795 Thanksgiving celebrated liberty. But the chef behind the feast had none. | Ramin Ganeshram | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostAfter he took his psilocybin—the hallucinatory compound in magic mushrooms—from a chalice, he reclined, put a mask over his eyes, and listened to classical music, as the researchers watched and guided his experience.
Those schooled at Harvard, Princeton, or William and Mary, like John Adams, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, made their way through tutorials in classical history, often relying on texts in the original languages.
Noble virtues, bad history: How Greece and Rome influenced America’s founders | Charles King | November 6, 2020 | Washington PostThe highest-weighted path is generally the one you’d expect from ordinary classical physics, but not always.
The Most Famous Paradox in Physics Nears Its End | George Musser | October 29, 2020 | Quanta MagazineWe’re entering a new era that places other plays into the classical theater realm.
1st Stage offering virtual roundtable discussions | Patrick Folliard | October 24, 2020 | Washington Blade
Much like the Taj Mahal, Revel opened in classically gaudy Atlantic City style in April 2012—with a sunrise Champagne toast.
I Watched a Casino Kill Itself: The Awful Last Nights of Atlantic City’s Taj Mahal | Olivia Nuzzi | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTClassically, by turning on/off several genetic switches, scientists can revert cells to a less specialized stage.
Gene Editing Could Erase HIV | Dr. Anand Veeravagu, MD, Michael Zhang | June 11, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn order to build a Jewish nation and society, Zionists classically engaged in “negation of the Diaspora,” or shlilat hagolah.
Jonathan Pollard Means Israeli-American Squabbling Instead of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiation | Raphael Magarik | July 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTClassically, three protagonists stand, pistols drawn, all with each other in the crosshairs at close range.
Hitler is not a classically Cratylic name—not like Chastity.
What’s in a Name? Writers and Their Anthroponymy | Anthony Paletta | February 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTMr. Ruskin bade us worship his hero, classically screened in a cloud.
Art in England | Dutton CookShe dressed always in white, and she was tall and pale and classically beautiful, and she was often silent, like a spirit.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineJean Clemens was the only bridesmaid, and she was stately and classically beautiful, with a proud dignity in her office.
Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete | Albert Bigelow PaineClassically treated the subject might yet produce one of the greatest pictures of all time.
The Belovd Vagabond | William J. LockeJim was classically regular of feature, while Will possessed all the irregularity and brightness of his Hibernian ancestry.
The One-Way Trail | Ridgwell Cullum
British Dictionary definitions for classical
/ (ˈklæsɪkəl) /
of, relating to, or characteristic of the ancient Greeks and Romans or their civilization, esp in the period of their ascendancy
designating, following, or influenced by the art or culture of ancient Greece or Rome: classical architecture
music
of, relating to, or denoting any music or its period of composition marked by stability of form, intellectualism, and restraint: Compare romantic (def. 5)
accepted as a standard: the classical suite
denoting serious art music in general: Compare pop 1 (def. 2)
music of or relating to a style of music composed, esp at Vienna, during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This period is marked by the establishment, esp by Haydn and Mozart, of sonata form
denoting or relating to a style in any of the arts characterized by emotional restraint and conservatism: a classical style of painting See classicism (def. 1)
well versed in the art and literature of ancient Greece and Rome
(of an education) based on the humanities and the study of Latin and Greek
physics
not involving the quantum theory or the theory of relativity: classical mechanics
obeying the laws of Newtonian mechanics or 19th-century physics: a classical gas
another word for classic (def. 2), classic (def. 4)
(of a logical or mathematical system) according with the law of excluded middle, so that every statement is known to be either true or false even if it is not known which
Derived forms of classical
- classicality or classicalness, noun
- classically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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