gothic
gothic Lexical Profile
gothic Game Scores & Validity
• adjective
Relating to a style of architecture prevalent in western Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, flying buttresses, and expansive stained-glass windows.
"The tourists marveled at the soaring spires and intricate stone carvings of the Gothic cathedral."
Relating to a genre of literature, art, or cinema characterized by a gloomy, mysterious, or macabre atmosphere, often set in decaying castles or ruins and featuring supernatural or horrifying elements.
"Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' remains one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction ever written."
Relating to a contemporary subculture, music genre, or fashion style characterized by dark, dramatic clothing, pale makeup, and melancholic themes.
"She favored a gothic wardrobe of black velvet dresses, lace chokers, and heavy silver jewelry."
Relating to the Goths, an East Germanic people of antiquity, or their extinct language.
"Historians studied the ancient Gothic tribes that migrated across Europe during the decline of the Roman Empire."
• noun
The architectural and artistic style prevalent in western Europe from the 12th to the 16th century, characterized by pointed arches, rib vaults, and flying buttresses.
"The abbey's choir is a masterpiece of English Gothic, flooded with light from its tall lancet windows."
An extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths, known primarily from a 4th-century Bible translation by Bishop Wulfila.
"Linguists rely on surviving manuscripts in Gothic to reconstruct the early history of the Germanic language family."
In typography, an angular black-letter script of medieval origin, or (especially in American printing) a sans-serif typeface with strokes of uniform width.
"The newspaper masthead was printed in traditional black-letter gothic, while the headlines used a clean sans-serif gothic."
• Rhymes for gothic
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from French gothique or Late Latin Gothicus ('of the Goths'), from Latin Gothi and Ancient Greek Gothoi. During the Italian Renaissance, humanist critics applied the term disparagingly to medieval architecture, viewing its pointed arches and ornamentation as crude and 'barbaric' compared to classical Greco-Roman design.