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In the 18th century, French artists rebelled against the ponderousness of baroque style and began to create light, delicate interior decorations, furniture, and architectural elements characterized by fanciful, curved, asymmetrical forms and elaborate ornamentation. The name of their new style, rococo, has been traced to the French rocaille, a term that evoked the ornamental use of rock and shell forms. In time, rococo was also applied to similarly ornamented and intimate styles of painting and music. But all fashions fade, and by the mid-1800s the rococo style was deemed excessively ornate and out-of-date. Now rococo is often used with mild disdain to describe the overly elaborate.
Examples of rococo in a Sentence
Laura Manske, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023
The show features pieces produced on the island by painters including rococo artist José Campeche and Impressionist Francisco Oller.
—Samantha Nelson, Chicago Tribune, 23 Dec. 2022
Ben Brantley, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2023
After announcing a years-long renovation in 2017, Park Avenue’s landmark venue will be selling classical baroque and rococo French furniture from the Windsor Suite, the Cole Porter Suite, the Winston Churchill Suite, and the Marilyn Monroe suite, among others.
—Hannah Elliott, Bloomberg.com, 13 Oct. 2020
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Cite this Entry
“Rococo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rococo. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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