gothic
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Of or about the architectural style favored in Western Europe in the 12th to 16th centuries, with high-pointed arches, clustered columns.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
gahthikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡɑθɪk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Of or relating to the goth subculture, music or lifestyle.
architecture
Of or relating to the architectural style favored in Western Europe in the 12th to 16th centuries, with high-pointed arches, clustered columns, etc.
literature
Of or relating to the style of fictional writing associated with Gothic fiction, emphasizing violent or macabre events in a mysterious, desolate setting.
Of or relating to the language of the ancient Goths
Of or relating to the Goths or their language.
figuratively
Barbarous, rude, unpolished, belonging to the "Dark Ages", medieval as opposed to classical.
noun
Extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths; the only surviving record being fragments of a 4th-century translation of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas
An extinct Germanic language, once spoken by the Goths.
Certain moths of the family Noctuidae.
A particular species of moth of the family Noctuidae, Naenia typica.
A novel written in the Gothic style.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of or relating to the goth subculture, music or lifestyle.
Used this way, gothic is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a musical use: it is everyday language among musicians and listeners, and specialised outside that.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Where it naturally appears
- Music/performance
- Arts writing
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use gothic
- “The old church had striking gothic architecture with tall arches.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A romance that deals with desolate and mysterious and grotesque events.
A writer of Gothic romances.
A pointed arch.
A style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries.
A Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England.
A Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.