verb
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to represent by or as by drawing, sculpture, painting, etc; delineate; portray
-
to represent in words; describe
Related Words
Depict, portray, sketch imply a representation of an object or scene by colors or lines, or by words. Depict emphasizes vividness of detail: to depict the confusion of departure. Portray emphasizes faithful representation: We could not portray the anguish of the exiles. Sketch suggests the drawing of the outlines of the most prominent features or details, often in a preparatory way: to sketch the plans for a community development.
Other Word Forms
- depicter noun
- depiction noun
- depictive adjective
- depictor noun
Etymology
Origin of depict
First recorded in 1625–35; from Latin dēpictus (past participle of dēpingere ), equivalent to dē- de- + pic- past participle stem of pingere “to paint” ( paint ) + -tus past participle suffix
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.
The White House posted an image of Black activist Nekima Levy Armstrong being arrested after involvement in a Minnesota church protest depicting her hysterically crying.
From Salon
On a wall outside the convenience store, Esther Osayande’s painting “Sankofa” depicts a bird with its head turned back, surrounded by flames.
From Los Angeles Times
A warning sign has been put up reading "Miinoja, mines", depicting a skull in a downward-pointing red triangle -- the international symbol for a mined area.
From Barron's
Rachel Tzvia Back felt compelled to write “The Dark-Robed Mother” because she wanted to depict certain aspects of depression that she hadn’t encountered in any other memoir.
Ms. Goodman finds the right measure of sugar in this novel-in-stories depicting three generations of Rubinsteins, an East Coast Jewish-American clan tenuously bound by love, ritual and guilt trips.
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.
