Dictionary Definition
marmoreal adj
1 resembling marble in smoothness; "skin of
marmoreal smoothness" [syn: marmorean]
2 like marble in hardness [syn: marmorean]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From marmoreus, from marmor.Pronunciation
- /mɑ:'mɔ:ɹɪəl/
Adjective
- Resembling marble or
a marble statue.
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- 1949: If, as I said, his fingertips arrived at this, perhaps her flesh, marmoreal and lazy, was hardly aware that these were, in fact, fingertips, and not for example, nails or knuckles. - Italo Calvino, Difficult Loves
- 1950: Irma had collapsed into a chair, and her long marmoreal face was buried in her hands. — Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast
- 1985: The gods, of course, were a quite farcical invention, though necessary for the as it were marmoreal exaltation of the civic virtues. — Anthony Burgess, Kingdom of the Wicked
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