collage

American  

[kuh-lahzh, koh-] / kəˈlɑʒ, koʊ- /

noun

1. a technique of composing a work of art by pasting on a single surface various materials not normally associated with one another, as newspaper clippings, parts of photographs, theater tickets, and fragments of an envelope.

2. a work of art produced by this technique.

3. an assemblage or occurrence of diverse elements or fragments in unlikely or unexpected juxtaposition.

   The experimental play is a collage of sudden scene shifts, long monologues, musical interludes, and slapstick.

4. a film that presents a series of seemingly unrelated scenes or images or shifts from one scene or image to another suddenly and without transition.

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verb (used with object)

collaged, collaging

1. to make a collage of.

   The artist has collaged old photos, cartoon figures, and telephone numbers into a unique work of art.

collage British  

/ kɒ-, kɔlaʒ, kəˈlɑːʒ /

noun

1. an art form in which compositions are made out of pieces of paper, cloth, photographs, and other miscellaneous objects, juxtaposed and pasted on a dry ground

2. a composition made in this way

3. any work, such as a piece of music, created by combining unrelated styles

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Other Word Forms

• collagist noun

Etymology

Origin of collage

1915–20; < French, equivalent to colle paste, glue (< Greek kólla ) + -age -age

Explanation

Have you ever cut out a bunch of pictures from magazines and pasted them together to make a big picture? If you have, you have made a collage. Collage came to English through French from the Greek word for glue, kolla, about 100 years ago. A collage is not only made from magazine pictures. In the world of fine art, it refers to a work made with various small objects sometimes with paint sometimes without. The word can also be used to mean a collection of different things. If it's very loud in your house, you might come home to a collage of sounds from the dog, the TV, your mom on the phone and your brother on the guitar. Years after you graduate, high school might just seem like a collage of memories.

Example Sentences

"My music has always been a collage," she says.

From BBC • Apr. 2, 2026

“We’re learning that lines can be anything and working on this with a family portrait collage project.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2026

Instead the effect is a visual and aural collage.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026

As always, the city was a layered collage best understood through the small encounters and fleeting scenes unfolding at street level as history happened in the background.

From Slate • Jan. 3, 2026

We can draw, collage, sculpt, or use whatever material we want.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila