noun
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the practice or art of making portraits
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another term for portrait
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portraits collectively
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a verbal description
Etymology
Origin of portraiture
Explanation
The process of painting a picture or taking a photograph of a person is called portraiture. If an art exhibit only includes pictures of faces, you can describe its focus as portraiture. Portraiture is the art of making a portrait, which is a close study of one person. Taking a candid snapshot of your friend riding by on her skateboard isn't portraiture. But if you ask your friend to pose with her skateboard while you take a photo — that's what portraiture is all about. Painters who specialize in portraiture often have subjects "sit" while their portraits are painted. Portraiture is rooted in the Old French portraire, "to paint."
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.
This is, to put it plainly, the stuff of well-considered emotional rawness, painstaking portraiture of our collective pasts.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
Eleri Lynn, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces, said the display of images spanning 300 years of family photoshoots, commissioned portraiture and official engagements would embark on a tour planned to span the UK.
From BBC • Apr. 12, 2026
Gainsborough studied Van Dyck’s composition and color, and in maturity absorbed elements of the master—the grand scroop of silk, the drama of the gaze—into his own portraiture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
In the 2010s, her watercolor portraits of U.S. congresswomen went viral for their commentary on political portraiture and the “power suit.”
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026
Indeed, except for portraiture, it can be argued that the decorative arts were the fine arts of America.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
