style
Pluralstyles
Pluralstyles
- 1The characteristic manner in which something is made, done, or expressed, especially in art, architecture, writing, or speech.
The cathedral combines Gothic and Renaissance styles.
Each painter brought a distinct style to the workshop.
UsageOften in the style of someone or something: painted in the style of Vermeer.
Note
Art history's sense, in which styles are named for masters and places: the Palladian, the style of Velazquez. Joshua Reynolds, lecturing at the Royal Academy, divided history painting into "the grand, and the splendid or ornamental" styles. The word reaches well beyond the studio. Ethan Mordden calls one musician's style "slow-build rave-up soul."
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Palladian is an architectural style named after a master, Andrea Palladio. riba.org
- Velazquez has a characteristic painting style discussed in art history. en.wikipedia.org
- Joshua Reynolds delivered the relevant lecture to Royal Academy students. gutenberg.org
- Reynolds distinguished two styles of history painting using the quoted wording. gutenberg.org
- 2Flair or grace; a way of behaving or carrying oneself, especially one seen as fashionable or skillful.
The veteran negotiator closed the deal with characteristic style.
He moved through the crowd with effortless style.
UsageCommon in with style and have a lot of style. Not my style means something you would not do.
Similarflair, panache, elegance, grace, finesse
Oppositeclumsiness, awkwardness, inelegance
- 3The particular way a person grooms, dresses, or carries themselves, especially a way thought to be attractive or fashionable.
Her effortless style turned heads at every gathering.
Teenagers often develop a personal style that sets them apart from their parents.
- 4To design, shape, or arrange something in a particular way, including choosing someone's clothes, hair, or overall look.
The architect styled the lobby after grand European hotels.
Stylists style the models' hair before each runway show.
UsageOften with after or like to name the model: a lobby styled after grand hotels.
- 5A set of formatting attributes, such as boldface or italics, applied to text or other parts of a document.
Apply the heading style to keep all section titles consistent.
The template defines a style for quotations and another for captions.
Similarformat, formatting
Note
A software word with a history older than the Web. Janine Warner's Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies (2007) notes that desktop publishing programs and word processors managed formatting with styles long before it. A style here is a reusable package of formatting, which is why styles are defined, named and applied. Cascading Style Sheets carried the idea to web pages. Compare a publisher's house style, which is a rulebook rather than a setting.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- Software styles predate the Web. w3.org
- Janine Warner wrote Dreamweaver CS3 for Dummies, published in 2007. dummies.com
- Warner says desktop publishing programs and word processors used styles to manage formatting before the Web. en.wiktionary.org
- CSS extended software styles to web pages. w3.org
- 6To call or give a name or title to someone or something.
The monarch chose to style himself Defender of the Faith.
Critics styled the young writer the voice of her generation.
UsageOften reflexive: he styled himself king. Also used in the passive: the pope is styled His Holiness.
Similarcall, name, term, designate, dub
Note
John Speed in 1611 has Donenald O-Neale styling himself King of Ulster. Henry Fielding's fellow of 1749 "stiled himself a Lawyer, but was indeed a most vile Petty-fogger."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- John Speed's History was first published in 1611. en.wikisource.org
- Speed describes Donenald O-Neale styling himself King of Ulster. en.wiktionary.org
- Henry Fielding's Tom Jones was published in 1749. en.wikisource.org
- The quotation describes a character in Fielding's Tom Jones; it is the narrator's description. gutenberg.org
- 7A set of rules a publisher applies to its works, governing spelling, typography, citation of references, and the presentation of illustrations.
The journal's style requires all measurements in metric units.
New writers receive a guide explaining the paper's style.
UsageCommon combinations include house style, style guide, and style manual.
Similarconventions, rules
Note
The rules decide how spelling, citations and typography appear across everything a press prints. Evelyn Hunt Ogden's advice to buy two copies of the style manual, one for you and one for the typist, shows how practical the word is.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Evelyn Hunt Ogden advised buying two copies of the style manual, one for the writer and one for the typist. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 8A legal or traditional formula of words used to address or refer to a person, especially a monarch or someone holding a title or post.
The duke insisted on being given his full style at every formal occasion.
Diplomatic letters open with the recipient's correct style and titles.
Similartitle, form, honorific, designation
Note
The formula a person is entitled to, as in the style of Majesty. It is the noun behind the verb of naming. Monarchs were not the only ones to have a style. Joseph Moxon's 1683 account of printing houses reports that the oldest freeman of a printers' chapel bore the style Father of the Chapel. Title and form of address come close in meaning, but style names the fixed, correct formula.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- The verb meaning to name or designate derives from the noun style. en.wiktionary.org
- Joseph Moxon's account of printing has a first-edition imprint dated 1683. graphicarts.princeton.edu
- Moxon reports that the oldest freeman of a printing-house chapel was called Father of the Chapel. en.wiktionary.org
- 9To behave in a way that seeks to display one's style or flair.
The rookie was styling on the court, showboating after every basket.
Fresh haircut, new sneakers: he was styling all the way down the block.
UsageOften used as be styling: he was styling all the way down the block.
- 10In a flower's pistil, the slender stalk joining the stigma or stigmas to the ovary.
In a lily, the long style rises from the ovary to the sticky stigma.
After pollination, the pollen tube travels the full length of the style.
Note
A botanist's use of the word, one of the family of thin, pointed things that runs back to the writing stylus. Formal plant descriptions treat it like any organ, with a shape and length: John Hill in 1751 calls one "subulated," or awl-shaped, and "shorter than the corolla," before turning to the acute stigma at its end. Keep it distinct from the stigma, the tip it carries.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The botanical sense shares its origin with the writing stylus. en.wiktionary.org
- Hill's relevant botanical volume was first published in 1751. iapt-taxon.org
- Hill describes a style's shape and relative length using the quoted words, immediately followed by an acute stigma. en.wiktionary.org
- Subulated means awl-shaped. en.wiktionary.org
- The stigma is distinct from the style and sits at its tip. amnh.org
- 11A sharp-pointed instrument for writing on wax or clay tablets, or for cutting lines in engraving; a stylus or graver.
- 12The gnomon or pin of a sundial, whose shadow falls across the dial to indicate the hour.
- 13A small, slender, pointed or bristle-like structure on an animal's body, such as one near the tip of an insect's abdomen.
- 14A surgical instrument with a blunt point, used for exploring wounds or body cavities.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of style apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origin
The noun comes through Middle English from Old French 'style' or Medieval Latin 'stylus', both from Latin 'stilus', meaning a pointed instrument, a writing tool, and a characteristic mode of expression. This probably traces back to Proto-Indo-European '*(s)teyg-' ('to be sharp, to pierce'), and the word is a doublet of 'stylus'. The verb is derived from the noun.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts
- The noun passed through Middle English from Old French style or Medieval Latin stylus. en.wiktionary.org
- Both source forms derive from Latin stilus. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin stilus meant a pointed instrument, a writing tool, and a characteristic mode of expression. en.wiktionary.org
- The reconstructed root *(s)teyg- means to be sharp or to pierce. en.wiktionary.org
- Style and stylus are doublets. en.wiktionary.org
- The verb derives from the noun. en.wiktionary.org