archaistic

/ɑːkeɪˈɪstɪk/

Etymology

From archaist + -ic.

archaistic means pertaining to an archaist; deliberately archaic, old-fashioned in an affected way. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

ARCHAISTIC — [Adjective] Pertaining to or characterized by a deliberate, often affected, imitation of archaic style or manner. From archaist (one who affects archaisms, from Greek archaizein, "to copy the ancients") + the English adjectival suffix -ic. Unlike "archaic," which denotes something genuinely old and obsolete, or "antiquated," which suggests a natural decay into uselessness, archaistic describes a conscious, aesthetic performance of age. It is the too-sharp, freshly-milled stone of a neo-Gothic façade, the synthetic crackle on a digital lute recording, or the purposefully weathered stone cladding on a suburban bank—a curated patina that is the ghost of authenticity, carefully staged.

adj

Pertaining to an archaist; deliberately archaic, old-fashioned in an affected way.“The emperor Augustus introduced an archaistic revival of ancient virtue and ancient religion, which caused the poem of Lucretius On the Nature of Things to become unpopular, and it remained so until the Renaissance.”

noun

Archaistic themes, motifs, items, etc.“As in the case of Renaissance Italy, it is precisely the presence of the archaistic in the modern that is so fascinating to the cultural historian.”