portrait
Americannoun
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a likeness of a person, especially of the face, as a painting, drawing, or photograph.
a gallery of family portraits.
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a verbal picture or description, usually of a person.
a biography that provides a fascinating portrait of an 18th-century rogue.
adjective
noun
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a painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, or other likeness of an individual, esp of the face
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( as modifier )
a portrait gallery
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a verbal description or picture, esp of a person's character
adjective
Other Word Forms
- portraitlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of portrait
1560–70; < Middle French: a drawing, image, etc., noun use of past participle of portraire to portray
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lola Young's Messy - another unflinching portrait of romantic disharmony - is a strong contender for song of the year.
From BBC
What has surprised so many, at least in the West, is how women - straight, queer, trans, "wine moms", daughters and your grandmother's Facebook group - have embraced Heated Rivalry's intimate portrait of queer love.
From BBC
By spring, he was sending Maggie gifts again, like the engraved portrait of himself created for his upcoming book.
From Literature
“I like that it’s a little rough around the edges, but beautiful at the same time,” Zermeño said of the portrait.
From Los Angeles Times
Through some inventive structures and a playful rewiring of romantic tropes going back to Homer, Groff stitches together a portrait of a marriage that she then carefully unravels.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
