pictorial
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, expressed in, or of the nature of a picture.
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illustrated by or containing pictures.
a pictorial history.
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of or relating to the art of painting and drawing pictures, the pictures themselves, or their makers.
the pictorial masterpieces of the Renaissance.
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having or suggesting the visual appeal or imagery of a picture.
a pictorial metaphor.
- Synonyms:
- telling, striking, vivid, picturesque
noun
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a periodical in which pictures constitute an important feature.
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a magazine feature that is primarily photographic.
adjective
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relating to, consisting of, or expressed by pictures
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(of books, newspapers, etc) containing pictures
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of or relating to painting or drawing
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(of language, style, etc) suggesting a picture; vivid; graphic
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pictorial
1640–50; < Latin pictōri ( us ) of painting ( pic- , variant stem of pingere to paint + -tōrius -tory 1 ) + -al 1
Explanation
If something's pictorial, it has illustrations or photographs. A graphic novel is a pictorial way to tell a story. Years ago, a pictorial was the name for a magazine that had far more pictures than text, but today the word is mostly used to mean "illustrated." Many books for very young children are mainly pictorial, and you could call your grandparents' photo album a pictorial record of their life together. Pictorial comes from the Latin word pictorius, "of a painter," from pingere, "to paint."
Vocabulary lists containing pictorial
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.
Summoned to London by the editor of the Lady’s Pictorial magazine, they were given an unwieldy contraption they called “the Kodak” and dispatched to Bordeaux to chronicle the wine harvest.
From Washington Post • Nov. 24, 2021
The 214 peaks, which include the summit of England's highest mountain - Scafell Pike, get their name from Alfred Wainwright's seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells.
From BBC • Jun. 18, 2021
On 20 February 1938, the Sunday Pictorial carried a report of a haunting in Croydon.
From The Guardian • Sep. 19, 2020
The person continued: “When Pictorial and The Magazine were merged in September of 1980, only one thing was clear. The Lawrence Welk days of Sunday magazine journalism were ending.”
From Seattle Times • Sep. 6, 2020
I flipped through the pages of The Complete Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Midweot Migration, looking for something special.
From "The Red Umbrella" by Christina Gonzalez
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.
