filigreed
adjective
fil·i·greed
ˈfi-lə-ˌgrēd 
: 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 figurativelyDavid A. AndelmanHe has a skeptically friendly, mildly ironic conversational manner and a droll, filigreed [=ornate] prose style.—Mark Singer
Mark SingerExamples of filigreed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Rockefeller Wing features several dozen—a rooster with filigreed plumage, the famous mask depicting a queen mother, and plaques that once adorned the kingdom’s royal palace, which British troops ransacked and burned in 1897.
—Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
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
His filigreed handiwork decorates hundreds of lowriders across Southern California.
—Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023
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
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Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
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
His filigreed handiwork decorates hundreds of lowriders across Southern California.
—Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2023
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
Cite this Entry
“Filigreed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/filigreed. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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