baroque

Relating to the highly ornate and dramatic artistic style that flourished in Europe from the late 16th to early 18th century — characterised by grandeur, movement, elaborate detail, and emotional intensity; figuratively, excessively ornate or complex.

• (French/Portuguese loanword)

• baroque architecture
• baroque music
• baroque style
• baroque period
• baroque ornamentation
• baroque complexity

1. 1.Bernini's "Ecstasy of Saint Teresa" epitomises baroque sculpture — theatrical lighting, dramatic emotion, flowing marble drapery, and the deliberate blurring of sacred and sensual. (artistic style)
2. 2.The tax code has become so baroque — layers of exemptions, deductions, and exceptions stacked over decades — that even specialists struggle to navigate it. (figurative complexity)

• ornate/ɔːrˈneɪt/— elaborately decorated
• flamboyant/flæmˈbɔɪənt/— showy, extravagant
• elaborate/ɪˈlæbərɪt/— detailed and complex

probably from Portuguese "barroco" (irregularly shaped pearl) — originally an insult meaning bizarre or overly decorated — later reclaimed as a legitimate style label