a view, esp through a long narrow avenue of trees, buildings, etc, or such a passage or avenue itself; prospect
a vista of arches
a comprehensive mental view of a distant time or a lengthy series of events
the vista of the future
What does vista mean? A vista is a wide view of a scene, especially a sweeping outdoor scene such as a mountain valley or beach. Traditionally, vista referred to a view seen through a long, narrow passage, such as between two rows of trees or buildings, but this meaning is now less commonly used. Example: The description for this hotel room claims that we’ll have a vista of the mountain at sunrise from our balcony.
See view.
First recorded in 1650–60; from Italian: “a view,” noun use of feminine of visto (past participle of vedere “to see,” from Latin vidēre )
V(olunteers) i(n) S(ervice) t(o) A(merica)
A vista is a scene, view, or panorama. It's what you stop to see when you climb to the top of a mountain, or pull off the road at the "scenic view" rest stop. Vista is an Italian word that means "sight" or "view." It's the same in Spanish and is related to the verb avistar, which means "to catch sight of." Hasta la vista! means, literally, "Until I see you!" (or, more simply, "See you later!"). As in Spain and Mexico, we like to name our towns after a vista: Buena Vista ("great scenery"), Chula Vista ("pleasant view"), and Rio Vista ("overlooking the river") are all places in California.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One win from five is the vista here.
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026
Looking ahead is good, of course, but the vista investors must now contemplate is replete with a host of issues that are both unique to U.S. markets and concerning to a longer term outlook.
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
The main living space, which features an enormous great room with windows spanning the entirety of the wall, offering a picture-perfect vista of the park.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 15, 2026
Beyond all that, though, an orchestra that knows and loves him brought into existence, especially in the slow movement, an inner Mehta vista that felt like a world unto itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
Beyond, coils of concertina wire topping a mesh fence further obscured the vista.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
The nearly three-hour epic is the first feature to be shot entirely on Imax cameras, a feat that required extensive cooperation between Nolan and the Canadian entertainment tech company, which operates out of Playa Vista.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026
In Sierra Vista, acting was always part of my soul because I lived so much in my imagination.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
For a time, we lived in Thailand, Germany and Tennessee before settling down in Sierra Vista, Ariz., just as I was starting junior high.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Fans of the Disney+ hit series Rivals will know this house as Bella Vista - home to Danny Dyer's character Freddie.
From BBC ● May 30, 2026
“You can save Vista Heights,” she said after a few moments.
From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson
It capitalized on the discovery of a protein found primarily on the surface of immune cells called VISTA.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
President John F. Kennedy, Kennedy Townsend’s uncle, conceived of AmeriCorps VISTA, a federal anti-poverty program, to encourage service to help lift underprivileged communities.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 3, 2023
About 30 years later, President Lyndon Johnson brought to fruition President John Kennedy’s “domestic Peace Corps” initiative, the Volunteers in Service to America program, known as VISTA.
From New York Times ● Jul. 2, 2021
I was just a person who, for my own reasons, ended up moving to the region under the auspices of this national service program called VISTA, which is expressly stated to "alleviate poverty."
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2020
Emily Brehob has been a teaching assistant with AmeriCorps VISTA, Peace Corps volunteer, and is now a graduate student in Texas.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2018
There is also an open-plan dining space in the main living area, while a connecting balcony offers another seating area, where guests can enjoy the home’s stunning vistas.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
The park had opened in 2001 and had struggled in its early years to pull in crowds, with audiences zeroing in on a lack of Disneyland-style attractions and an absence of grandly designed vistas.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
Nature herself is more than shapeless irregularity; the woods have glades and groves, animal trails and vistas; like literature, they have rising and falling action.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
In 1890, at Gravelines, just north of Calais, he painted four spare, gloriously luminous views that capture its canal’s sweeping vistas and endless skies, and all of them are here.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
It traverses no notable eminences at all in Pennsylvania, offers no particularly memorable vistas, visits no national parks or forests, and overlooks the state’s considerable history.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
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.
