orchidaceous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   relating to orchids or the orchid family

   Several orchidaceous plants in the forest depend on moths for pollination.

2. 2
   adj

   exotic, rare, or elaborately sensual in style or character

   The novelist became known for an orchidaceous prose style rich in strange imagery.

From Orchidaceae, the botanical family name, with -aceous; equivalent to orchid + -aceous. The literal botanical adjective developed a figurative sense for something rare, exotic, elaborate, or sensually cultivated.

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