# ceremonious

> English word · Adjective · IPA /sɛ.ɹɪˈməʊ.nɪ.əs/

## Definitions
1. According to the required or usual ceremonies, formalities, or rituals; specifically (Christianity, obsolete), to ceremonial laws in the Bible.
2. Involving much ceremony; ostentatious, showy.
3. Of a person: fond of ceremony or ritual, or of observing strict etiquette or formality; punctilious.
4. Synonym of ceremonial (“of, relating to, consisting of, or used in a ceremony or rite”); formal, ritual.

## 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.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ceremonious