style
Pronunciation: (stīl), [key]
— n., v. styled, styl•ing.
—n.
- a particular kind, sort, or type, as with reference to form, appearance, or character: the baroque style; The style of the house was too austere for their liking.
- a particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode of action or manner of acting: They do these things in a grand style.
- a mode of living, as with respect to expense or display.
- an elegant, fashionable, or luxurious mode of living: to live in style.
- a mode of fashion, as in dress, esp. good or approved fashion; elegance; smartness.
- the mode of expressing thought in writing or speaking by selecting and arranging words, considered with respect to clearness, effectiveness, euphony, or the like, that is characteristic of a group, period, person, personality, etc.: to write in the style of Faulkner; a familiar style; a pompous, pedantic style.
- those components or features of a literary composition that have to do with the form of expression rather than the content of the thought expressed: His writing is all style and no substance.
- manner or tone adopted in discourse or conversation: a patronizing style of addressing others.
- a particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode or form of construction or execution in any art or work: Her painting is beginning to show a personal style.
- a descriptive or distinguishing appellation, esp. a legal, official, or recognized title: a firm trading under the style of Smith, Jones, & Co.
- stylus (defs. 1, 2).
- the gnomon of a sundial.
- a method of reckoning time. Cf.(def. 2).
- a small, pointed process or part.
- a narrow, usually cylindrical and more or less filiform extension of the pistil, which, when present, bears the stigma at its apex. See diag. under
- the rules or customs of typography, punctuation, spelling, and related matters used by a newspaper, magazine, publishing house, etc., or in a specific publication.
- to become unfashionable: The jacket he's wearing went out of style ten years ago.
- fashionable.
—v.t.
- to call by a given title or appellation; denominate; name; call: The pope is styled His or Your Holiness.
- to design or arrange in accordance with a given or new style: to style an evening dress; to style one's hair.
- to bring into conformity with a specific style or give a specific style to: Please style this manuscript.
—v.i.
- to do decorative work with a style or stylus.
-style
- a combining form of(defs. 14, 15):Cf.. blastostyle.
-style
- a combining form with the meanings “column,” “columned,” “having columns (of the kind specified)” used in the formation of compound words:Cf.. orthostyle; urostyle.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.