Dictionary

ceremonious en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (General-American) audio
• /ˌsɛ.ɹəˈmoʊ.ni.əs/ (General-American)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Middle French cérémonieux (modern French cérémonieux) or directly from its etymon Latin caerimōniōsus + English -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, denoting the presence of a quality in any degree (typically an abundance)). Caerimōniōsus is derived from Latin caerimōnia (“awe, reverence, veneration; sacredness, sanctity; religious ceremony, ritual”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kʷer- (“to build, make; to do”)) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of, overly’ forming adjectives from nouns). By surface analysis, ceremony + -ous.

Meanings

1. According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), to ceremonial laws in the Bible.
   • VVhen vve deſcribe our ſenſations of another's ſorrovvs, either in friendly or ceremonious condolence, the cuſtoms of the vvorld ſcarcely admit of rigid veracity. 1759 March 31, [Samuel Johnson], “The Idler. No. 51.”, in The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette, volume II, number 52, London: […] R. Stevens, […], →OCLC, page 1, column 2:
   • [L]et vs take a ceremonious leaue, / And louing farevvell of our ſeuerall friends. 1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], signature B2, verso:
   • Bingley, she had likewise seen for an instant, and in that short period saw him looking both pleased and embarrassed. He was received by Mrs. Bennet with a degree of civility, which made her two daughters ashamed, especially when contrasted with the cold and ceremonious politeness of her curtsey and address to his friend. 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XI, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 202:
2. Involving much ceremony; ostentatious, showy.
   • This is the day, when, in a foreign grave, / King Owen [Owain Gwynedd]'s relics shall be laid to rest. / […] / No mitred abbots, and no tonsured train, / Lengthened the pomp of ceremonious woe. 1805, Robert Southey, “Canto V”, in Madoc, London: […] [F]or Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, and A[rchibald] Constable and Co, […], by James Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, part I (Madoc in Wales), page 222:
   • He descended to the cabin to bid a ceremonious, and, it may be, tacitly rebukeful adieu. 1855 October–December, Herman Melville, “Benito Cereno”, in Billy Budd and Other Stories, London: John Lehmann, published 1951, →OCLC, page 187:
   • O, the Sacrifice, / Hovv ceremonious, ſolemne, and vn-earthly / It vvas i'th' Offring? c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 286, column 1:
3. Of a person: fond of ceremony or ritual, or of observing strict etiquette or formality; punctilious.
   • [S]ome VVriters do almoſt nothing contrary to yͤ cuſtome, and ſome by vertue of that Priuiledge, dare doe any thing. I am neither of that firſt order, nor of this laſt. The one is too fondly-ceremonious, the other too impudently audacious. I vvalke in the midſt (ſo vvell as I can) betvveene both. 1608, Thomas Dekker, “To the Very Worthy Gentleman, Mr Francis Mustian, of Peckham”, in Lanthorne and Candle-light. Or The Bell-mans Second Nights Walke. […], London: […] [George Eld] for Iohn Busbie, […], →OCLC, signature A2, recto:
   • His onely delight is building, he ſpends himſelfe to get curious intricate models and plots, another is vvholly ceremonious about titles, degrees, inſcriptions. 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “An Heape of Other Accidents Causing Melancholy. Death of Friends, Losses, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition 1, section 2, member 4, subsection 7, page 148:
   • Ancient and oriental cultures are in many ways more conventional, more ceremonious, and more courteous than our own. 1958, C[live] S[taples] Lewis, “The Cursings”, in Reflections on the Psalms, London: Geoffrey Bles, →OCLC, page 23:
4. Synonym of ceremonial (“of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony or rite”); formal, ritual.
   • The other Princes vvere reſerued to a more opportune maſſacre, vntil Sultan Currovvn had entred Agra, and receiued the Imperial Crovvne and Scepter, vvith other Ceremonious rites due to the Coronation, of the Great Moguls. 1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “Mohelia, Its Description”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, page 34:
   • They [gentiles] may alſo theſiyer [the easier] bee allured to the Chriſtian fayth, for that it is more agreable to the lawe of nature then eyther the cerimonious lawe of Moiſes, or portentous fables of Mahometes Alcharon. 1555, Richard Eden, “Rycharde Eden to the Reader”, in Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], translated by Rycharde Eden, The Decades of the Newe Worlde or West India, […], London: […] [Rycharde Jug for] Guilhelmi Powell, →OCLC:

Forms

Antonyms

inceremonious · unceremonious · inceremonious · unceremonious

Deriveds

superceremonious · ceremoniously · ultraceremonious · inceremonious · ceremoniousness · unceremonious

Synonyms

circumstantial · ceremonial · ceremonial

Translations (33)

cmn 冠冕 (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · nl plechtig (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · es ceremonioso (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · mk церемонија́лен (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · hi परंपरागत (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · it cerimonioso (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · cmn 隆重 (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · gd òrdail (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · fo hátíðarligur (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · vi khách sáo (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · ka ცერემონიული (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · sv högtidlig (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · gv formoil (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · fi muodollinen (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · de feierlich (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · hi पारंपरिक (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · gd nòsach (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · eo ceremonia (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · sv ceremoniell (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · gd nòsail (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · da højtidelig (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · ro ceremonios (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · ca cerimoniós (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · nl ceremonieus (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · mk свечен (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · fr solennel (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · nl statig (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · hi प्रथागत (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · eo solena (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · hi औपचारिक (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · sv kruserlig (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · fr cérémonieux (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals) · ro reverențios (according to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals)