skeuomorphic
/skjuːəˈmɔːfɪk/
skeuomorphic adjective: pertaining to skeuomorphs, obsolete design elements which are retained for familiarity or out of tradition, even though they no longer serve any functional purpose.
Adjective
skeuomorphic (comparative more skeuomorphic, superlative most skeuomorphic)
- Pertaining to skeuomorphs, obsolete design elements which are retained for familiarity or out of tradition, even though they no longer serve any functional purpose.
- And just as “expectancy” caused the transfer of thong-work from the flint axe, where it was functional, to the bronze celt, where it was skeuomorphic, it carried the chevrons and cruciforms of basketry to the decoration of earthen vessels.1889, Henry Colley March, “The Meaning of Ornament; or its Archæology and its Psychology”, in Transactions of the Lancashire and Chesire Antiquarian Society, volume 7, page 168
- “[…]Forms of vessels so derived may be said to have an adventitious origin, yet they are essentially copies, although not so by design” (p. 445). In other words, such pottery is primitively skeuomorphic.1895, Alfred C. Haddon, quoting W. H. Holmes, Evolution in Art, page 102
Forms of skeuomorphic
| comparative | more skeuomorphic |
|---|---|
| superlative | most skeuomorphic |
| alternative form | skiamorphic |
Origin of skeuomorphic
From skeuomorph + -ic.
Words formed from skeuomorphic
Questions about skeuomorphic
- What does skeuomorphic mean?
- Skeuomorphic means pertaining to skeuomorphs, obsolete design elements which are retained for familiarity or out of tradition, even though they no longer serve any functional purpose.
- What part of speech is skeuomorphic?
- Skeuomorphic is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce skeuomorphic?
- Skeuomorphic is pronounced /skjuːəˈmɔːfɪk/ (UK).
Words near skeuomorphic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: skeuomorphic (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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