representational

[ rep-ri-zen-tey-shuh-nl, -zuhn- ]

adjective

1. of or relating to representation.
2. representing or depicting an object in a recognizable manner:

   representational art.

representational

/ ˌrɛprɪzɛnˈteɪʃənəl /

adjective

1. fine arts depicting or attempting to depict objects, scenes, figures, etc, directly as seen; naturalistic
2. of or relating to representation

Other Words From

• unrep·re·sen·tation·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of representational¹

First recorded in 1850–55; representation + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Of the two teams that produced representational paintings, only one explicitly depicts the newlyweds.

From Washington Post

Despite representational gestures, there’s not structural change or a redistribution of money.

From Washington Post

Imbalances like this threaten core values of representational democracy like fairness, inclusion and equality.

From No Straight News

The cyanotypes and photograms are the closest things to representational works in the show, and they’re deliberately cryptic and detached.

From Washington Post

The selection includes abstract works, but most of those seem less urgent than the representational ones.

From Washington Post

This is jaw-droppingly strange since perfumes, like paintings and sculpture, are often hyper-representational.

From The Daily Beast

The idea of placing atop this perfect thing a big granite planith surmounted by a representational bronze ... ugh.

From The Daily Beast

The very fact of depicting at one-to-one carries special representational weight.

From The Daily Beast

In fact, when used correctly (i.e., by the Democrats), the filibuster can help right this representational wrong.

From The Daily Beast

Voit documents a perceptual anomaly and allows it to trick us—or not—without any representational manipulation.

From The Daily Beast

To justify our presence there the only thing demanded of us is that we shall have felt the representational impulse.

From Project Gutenberg

Strictly representational it may not be, but there are none of your whorls and cylinders and angles and what nots.

From Project Gutenberg

On the functional theory of ideas, their value does not rest at all upon their representational nature.

From Project Gutenberg

His books are neither documentary nor representational; his characters are symbols of human desires and motives.

From Project Gutenberg

He wondered what on earth "anti-representational" could mean.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• descriptive
• illustrated
• photographic
• visual
• vivid