still life

American  

noun

• still lifes
  plural

1. a representation chiefly of inanimate objects, as a painting of a bowl of fruit.

2. the category of subject matter in which inanimate objects are represented, as in painting or photography.

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still life British  

noun

1. 1. a painting or drawing of inanimate objects, such as fruit, flowers, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a still-life painting

2. the genre of such paintings

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• still-life
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• still lifes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of still life

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

still life

Many of his wartime paintings are interiors executed on black backgrounds that suggest a kind of indoor nighttime, like the otherwise colorful “Christmas Roses and Saxifrages,” a 1944 still life.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Next to the screens of combat videos in Madyar's bunker is artwork from renowned Ukrainian painters, including a still life of flowers by Maria Prymachenko.

From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026

Yet still, life went on in Etzatlán, until the sense of tranquility was shattered.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

Lutnick’s testimony this past week, like Bondi’s, is thus operating as a still life in what happens when the law becomes inert.

From Slate ● Feb. 12, 2026

And get this: hotfoot becomes hotfoots, and still life becomes still lifes.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner