depicted
Americanadjective
-
represented by or as if by painting or other visual image; portrayed.
The viewer of this striking painting is lured into the possible narrative of the depicted figure by her beauty, strength, and grace.
-
represented or characterized in words.
Subtle cues in the text indicate the tone or stance the author is taking towards the depicted events.
verb
Other Word Forms
- undepicted adjective
- well-depicted adjective
Etymology
Origin of depicted
Explanation
If your brother is depicted as a couch potato in your autobiographical novel, it means that you described him in a certain way, so that he came across as a lazy TV watcher. The adjective depicted means "shown or represented." A person or thing can be depicted in a particular way through a description, a drawing, a photograph, or any other artistic medium. Whenever a vivid picture of something — like life in Victorian England — is presented, that thing is being depicted. The Latin root depictus comes from the prefix de, meaning "down," and pingere, "to paint," and it means "to portray, paint, sketch or imagine."
Vocabulary lists containing depicted
Unit 4: Powerful Openings
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
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The Last Beekeeper
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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.
A billboard campaign depicted Barrios in a blue cap and gown with the caption, “Who killed my daughter?”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 25, 2026
In the years the billboard has been up, it’s looked over dozens and dozens of car encampments like the one depicted in Gomez’s piece.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2026
The gladiator depicted on the cover of “Those Who Are About to Die” has the beginnings of a pot belly and bears not the slightest physical resemblance to Kirk Douglas or Russell Crowe.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026
"The munition depicted in the video appears to be twice as long, consistent with the dimensions and silhouette of an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile," Capt Hawkins said.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
The insight was precocious, anticipating as it did the distinction between history as experienced and history as remembered, most famously depicted in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
