Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The character of being ornamental; also, a tendency to attach too much importance to ornament.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any artistic or architectural style characterised by ornamentation.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the practice of ornamental display

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

ornamental +‎ -ism

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Examples

  • Alber Elbaz first applied ornamentalism in dress design.

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 1012 2009

  • Alber Elbaz first applied ornamentalism in dress design.

    Figural Top | SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles 2009

  • But the emblematic building of Cairo is the small tower block — five or six stories designed in a functionalism so basic that the Bauhaus architects were lapdogs of ornamentalism by comparison.

    Letter From Egypt P. J. O'Rourke 2002

  • But the emblematic building of Cairo is the small tower block — five or six stories designed in a functionalism so basic that the Bauhaus architects were lapdogs of ornamentalism by comparison.

    Letter From Egypt P. J. O'Rourke 2002

  • This, not ornamentalism, was the ethos of the empire in what Cannadine calls its "heyday," from the Mutiny to 1914.

    A Bit of Bunting 2001

  • This, not ornamentalism, was the ethos of the empire in what Cannadine calls its "heyday," from the Mutiny to 1914.

    A Bit of Bunting 2001

  • Primary elements combined constitute a style, which may be analyzed according to several style dimensions such as complexity (minimalism vs. ornamentalism); representation (realism vs. abstraction); movement (dynamic vs. static) and potency (loud/strong vs. soft/ weak).

    Experiential Marketing BERND H. SCHMITT 1999

  • Primary elements combined constitute a style, which may be analyzed according to several style dimensions such as complexity (minimalism vs. ornamentalism); representation (realism vs. abstraction); movement (dynamic vs. static) and potency (loud/strong vs. soft/ weak).

    Experiential Marketing BERND H. SCHMITT 1999

  • It is a poster-art look that uses a minimalist base accessorized by a touch of ornamentalism.

    MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997

  • Old-time bathhouses and swimming pools used to be prime examples of ornamentalism.

    MARKETING AESTHETICS BERND SCHMITT 1997

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