sculpture
Americannoun
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sculptures
plural
-
the art of carving, modeling, welding, or otherwise producing figurative or abstract works of art in three dimensions, as in relief, intaglio, or in the round.
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such works of art collectively.
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an individual piece of such work.
verb (used with object)
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sculptures,
present (3rd person singular)
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sculptured,
past participle, past
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sculpturing
present participle
-
to carve, model, weld, or otherwise produce (a piece of sculpture).
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to produce a portrait or image of in this way; represent in sculpture.
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Physical Geography. to change the form of (the land surface) by erosion.
verb (used without object)
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sculptures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sculptured,
past participle, past
-
sculpturing
present participle
noun
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the art of making figures or designs in relief or the round by carving wood, moulding plaster, etc, or casting metals, etc
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works or a work made in this way
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ridges or indentations as on a shell, formed by natural processes
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the gradual formation of the landscape by erosion
verb
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(also intr) to carve, cast, or fashion (stone, bronze, etc) three dimensionally
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to portray (a person, etc) by means of sculpture
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to form in the manner of sculpture, esp to shape (landscape) by erosion
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to decorate with sculpture
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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resculptureverb (used with object)
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nonsculpturaladjective
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sculpturaladjective
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unsculpturaladjective
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nonsculpturallyadverb
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sculpturallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sculpturesimple
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sculpturessimple
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have sculpturedperfect
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has sculpturedperfect
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am sculpturingprogressive
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are sculpturingprogressive
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is sculpturingprogressive
-
have been sculpturingperfect progressive
-
has been sculpturingperfect progressive
Past
-
sculpturedsimple
-
had sculpturedperfect
-
was sculpturingprogressive
-
were sculpturingprogressive
-
had been sculpturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sculpture
1350–1400; Middle English (noun) < Latin sculptūra, equivalent to sculpt ( us ) (past participle of sculpere to carve) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
Sculpture is a type of artwork that's two- or three-dimensional, so you can see it from different sides. You can make sculpture from clay, marble, wood, and even mashed potatoes, though the potato kind might not make it into an art museum. From the Latin sculpere "to carve," sculpture often is carved out of a block of wood, stone, or other material. Statues and outdoor artworks are one type of sculpture, and they are freestanding — you can walk around them, under them, or even over them. Other types are carved into walls, with the figures or objects sticking out from a flat surface. Artists called sculptors use soft materials, metal, and even ice and common objects like cars and cans to make sculpture.
Vocabulary lists containing sculpture
Brown Girl Dreaming
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Ancient Egypt and Kush, Lessons 1–3
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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.
See Examples For:
"Evolution is chiseling a sculpture, not constructing a building," Gokcumen said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
The rep confirmed that — after its stop in Minneapolis — Secret Handshake plans to bring the sculpture to other cities soon, adding that L.A. “would be amazing.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
Much like paper must be folded into the correct shape to create an origami sculpture, proteins inside cells must form precise three-dimensional structures before they can function properly.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
The artist’s eponymous 2025 sculpture, crowned with an array of Bantu knots, ties the entire show together, joining materiality, traditional cultural identity, and the outward-looking nature of the exhibition in a single work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Like most monumental sculpture, Apollo and Daphne was intended for a specific location.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
In her studio, surrounded by shelves of porcelain figures she recovered from Altadena and refired, she fashions whimsical sculptures imitating feminine figures and feline forms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
In those solo presentations, Usha Seejarim’s conceptual sculptures and wall works examined gender and sexuality through repurposed objects, and Mmangaliso Nzuza’s biographical paintings infused Western art history with African trends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
Kreitzman's Mile End house is filled from top to bottom with pictures and sculptures, on every colourful wall, on every table, in every room and corridor.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Pan-African hairdressing is mirrored in another collection of works, many of which take their name from the places or ethnic groups that use the styles mirrored in the sculptures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
After eating they explored the art building, looking at sculptures and silk screens in cool corridors thick with the fragrance of wet paint and clay.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
His charming, whimsical collection featured ruffled tutus, sculptured soft knits, peplum jackets, skirts with bustles and plenty of shearling fabric.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2026
Price was best known for his sculptured silhouettes and theatrical styles, including pastel suits which featured in rock band Duran Duran's music video Rio.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
David Blond said he wanted the collection to merge the future of the brand with its move toward more ready-to-wear activewear while still paying homage to their past with more sculptured pieces.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2022
He painted whirling murals and sculptured shapes that moved.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
His sister was almost as tall as I, with dark, vivacious eyes and a face almost exactly like Danny’s, except that the sculptured lines were a good deal softer.
From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok
A busboy is embraced by the beatnik art community when he develops an impressive but morbid method of sculpturing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2019
After two years of intense production, sculpturing the work in public was “the fun part,” she added.
From New York Times ● May 1, 2013
“Then we would cut the foam board and build it up,” he said, often sculpturing it to fit the shapes in the painting.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2012
It can range from painting or sculpturing to commissioning manufactured items like the sets of boxlike aluminum and plexiglass units to which Donald Judd gave no title.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2011
Mr. Perring represents this fragment of sculpturing from the brick Pyramid of Dashoor, in his folio work, The Pyramids of Gizeh, plate xiii.
From Archaeological Essays, Vol. 1 by Stuart, John
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.
