picturesque
[pik-chuh-resk]
- visually charming or quaint, as if resembling or suitable for a painting: a picturesque fishing village.
- (of writing, speech, etc.) strikingly graphic or vivid; creating detailed mental images: a picturesque description of the Brazilian jungle.
- having pleasing or interesting qualities; strikingly effective in appearance: a picturesque hat.
Origin of picturesque
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com2. Picturesque, graphic, vivid apply to descriptions that produce a strong, especially a visual, impression. Picturesque is a less precise term than the other two. A picturesque account, though striking and interesting, may be inaccurate or may reflect personal ideas: He called the landscape picturesque. A graphic account is more objective and factual: it produces a clear, definite impression, and carries conviction. A vivid account is told with liveliness and intenseness; the description is so interesting, or even exciting, that the reader or hearer may be emotionally stirred.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for picturesque
Contemporary Examples
One Street Museum is dedicated to the picturesque old Kiev street called Andriyivskyy Descent, on which it is situated.
Later, we hiked up a picturesque trail to the Dovbush rocks, which are a sort of local Stonehenge.
But the area is also an unexplored region of picturesque villages and surprising flavors.
His social snapshots reveal the unhappy repercussions of tyranny and poverty in a picturesque Africa.
Saatchi Resurrects Ancient Pangaea with Show Featuring South American and African ArtistsChloë Ashby
April 4, 2014
A week later Gill, 32, was taking a break in the Lake District, a picturesque sweep of mountains outside Manchester.
Historical Examples
A most picturesque little place is this, seen from the railway.
The Roof of FranceMatilda Betham-Edwards
The village was picturesque, in the variety of its edifices, though all were rude.
The Village Uncle (From "Twice Told Tales")Nathaniel Hawthorne
The revulsion accentuated her enjoyment of the picturesque aspects of the scene.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
It's just the picturesque dignity of the costume, and the pose, perhaps.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
It is no merit to be picturesque—I have greater merits, perhaps—but I may be, by an accident.
Little DorritCharles Dickens
picturesque
- visually pleasing, esp in being striking or vivida picturesque view
- having a striking or colourful character, nature, etc
- (of language) graphic; vivid
Word Origin
C18: from French pittoresque (but also influenced by picture), from Italian pittoresco, from pittore painter, from Latin pictor
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for picturesque
adj.
1703, on pattern of French pittoresque, a loan-word from Italian pittoresco, literally "pictorial" (1660s), from pittore "painter," from Latin pictorem (nominative pictor); see painter (n.1). As a noun from 1749. Related: Picturesquely; picturesqueness.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper