three-dimensional
Americanadjective
-
having, or seeming to have, the dimension of depth as well as width and height.
-
(especially in a literary work) fully developed.
The story came alive chiefly because the characters were vividly three-dimensional.
adjective
-
of, having, or relating to three dimensions
three-dimensional space
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(of a film, transparency, etc) simulating the effect of depth by presenting slightly different views of a scene to each eye
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having volume
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lifelike or real
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of three-dimensional
First recorded in 1890–95
Explanation
Things that have depth and can be rotated in space are three-dimensional. Everything around you that you can touch or move around—your sneaker, your dog, the rug on the floor—is three-dimensional. Dimensionality can be a tricky quality to understand, but it helps to think of a line connecting two points as one-dimensional and a flat plane or shape, like a triangle drawn on paper, as two-dimensional. When you add depth to a shape, you get a three-dimensional object: a triangle becomes a pyramid, for example. When a story or other work of art is so well-made and detailed that it's believable, you can also describe it as three-dimensional.
Vocabulary lists containing three-dimensional
Geometry - Middle School
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Geometry - High School
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Visual Arts - Introductory
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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.
In contrast, imagine a purely three-dimensional elephant that flashes into the room for an instant: a cross-sectional moment in the life of an existing elephant, appearing and disappearing like a ghost.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
What a shame, considering a three-dimensional approach might be all “Obsession” needs to skate past mediocrity.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
GTA III in 2001 was a naughty revelation—a first-person, three-dimensional, open world of beauty and barbarity.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Scientists are using laboratory-grown cell models and three-dimensional bioprinting technology to recreate the early stages of disease development.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
One day a three-dimensional creature—shaped like an apple, say—comes upon Flatland, hovering above it.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
