vignette
Americannoun
-
a decorative design or small illustration used on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter.
-
an engraving, drawing, photograph, or the like that is shaded off gradually at the edges so as to leave no definite line at the border.
-
a decorative design representing branches, leaves, grapes, or the like, as in a manuscript.
-
any small, pleasing picture or view.
-
a small, graceful literary sketch.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
a small illustration placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter
-
a short graceful literary essay or sketch
-
a photograph, drawing, etc, with edges that are shaded off
-
architect a carved ornamentation that has a design based upon tendrils, leaves, etc
-
any small endearing scene, view, picture, etc
verb
-
to finish (a photograph, picture, etc) with a fading border in the form of a vignette
-
-
to decorate with vignettes
-
to portray in or as in a vignette
-
Usage
What does vignette mean? A vignette is a small illustration or design, especially one that appears on a book’s title page or between chapters.This primary meaning of vignette has been extended in several ways, such as to refer to other small illustrations or images done in a similar style, or to brief scenes from literature or other works. Vignette can also be used as a verb, meaning to create such a thing or to do something in the style of a vignette.Example: I love these old books that have lovely vignettes at the beginning of each chapter.
Other Word Forms
- vignettist noun
Etymology
Origin of vignette
1745–55; < French: literally, little vine ( vine, -ette ); so called from vinelike decorations in early books
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.
Dean's secret weapon is the incisiveness of her lyrics, which paint instantly-recognisable vignettes of love.
From BBC
In coarse, colloquial prose, translated by Kate Webster, these loosely united vignettes glance upon the lives of villagers who seem cursed by the land.
Kacie Rose, a former professional dancer, shares vignettes of her new life in Italy that she compiled into a bestselling memoir, “You Deserve Good Gelato.”
Performance and illusion are recurring themes: A woman is sawed in half in a depiction of classic stagecraft; elsewhere a juggler manipulates ovoids that each contain an everyday vignette.
His eyebrow-raising biography is dissected by way of inventive vignettes that blend performance and wildly interactive sets.
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.
