filigreed

adjective

fil·​i·​greed ˈfi-lə-ˌgrēd How to pronounce filigreed (audio)
: decorated with ornamental openwork of delicate or intricate design : adorned with filigree
a filigreed gold pendant
Darting down the corridor to a wood-fired samovar tucked in a cupboard, she reappeared moments later carrying glasses in filigreed silver holders and teabags of Siberian milk tea, thick, fragrant and soothing.David A. Andelman
sometimes used figuratively
He has a skeptically friendly, mildly ironic conversational manner and a droll, filigreed [=ornate] prose style.Mark Singer

Examples of filigreed in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Her only tools are a brass dagger stitched into her bodice and a filigreed orb that serves as a lamp. Peter Debruge, Variety, 7 Mar. 2024 Its silty rivers rush down from the Himalayas, spill into a filigreed maze of ponds, wetlands and tributaries before emptying into the blustery, black Bay of Bengal. Somini Sengupta, New York Times, 25 June 2023 Her photographs have appeared in more than a dozen books and more than two dozen exhibitions: A streetlamp casts a filigreed shadow in a beam of sunlight slanting into a deserted alley. Daniel E. Slotnik, New York Times, 4 May 2023 The outer wall of the compound, which faced the main road, was half red brick and half filigreed black grille. The New Yorker, 9 Aug. 2021 The result is a script that develops the clear and stark drama on an extraordinarily loose and seemingly impulsive array of flourishes and fillips, rhetorical sallies and filigreed side business. Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2022 The interior, designed by Sara Ruffin Costello, is a filigreed jewel box of spacious parlors and hidden nooks, with an eclectic variety of art. New York Times, 22 Oct. 2020 His filigreed handiwork decorates hundreds of lowriders across Southern California. Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023 Symonds, with his privilege and filigreed verse, was a very odd type of social prophet, and so is his fictional counterpart. Nikhil Krishnan, The New Yorker, 16 Jan. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1769, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of filigreed was in 1769

Dictionary Entries Near filigreed

Cite this Entry

“Filigreed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filigreed. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on filigreed

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!