statuesque

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French statuesque, equivalent to statue +‎ -esque.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /statjʊˈɛsk/, /statʃʊˈɛsk/

Adjective

statuesque (comparative more statuesque, superlative most statuesque)

1. Resembling or characteristic of a statue. [from 18th c.]
   • 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard:

     He was by no means a bad hero to look at, if such a thing were needed. His face was pale, melancholy, statuesque—and his large enthusiastic eyes, suggested a story and a secret—perhaps a horror.

   • 1901, H. G. Wells, The New Accelerator

     We went out by his gate into the road, and there we made a minute examination of the statuesque passing traffic. The tops of the wheels and some of the legs of the horses of this char-a-banc, the end of the whip-lash and the lower jaw of the conductor — who was just beginning to yawn — were perceptibly in motion, but all the rest of the lumbering conveyance seemed still.

2. (of a woman) Elegantly tall, graceful, and attractive. [from 19th c.]

   Christy Turlington is a statuesque supermodel famous for her fashion ads.

Translations

like a statue

• Bulgarian: като изваян (kato izvajan)
• Catalan: escultural
• French: statuesque (fr) m or f
• German: statuengleich, statuenhaft, wie eine Statue
• Greek: αγαλμάτινος (el) (agalmátinos), αγαλματώδης (el) (agalmatódis)

elegantly tall and graceful

• Catalan: escultural
• French: statuesque (fr) m or f
• German: stattlich (de) (tall and attractive, not necessarily graceful or elegant)
• Greek: αγαλματένιος (el) (agalmaténios)
• Polish: posągowy