encaustic

American  

[en-kaw-stik] / ɛnˈkɔ stɪk /

adjective

1. painted with wax colors fixed with heat, or with any process in which colors are burned in.

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noun

1. a work of art produced by an encaustic process.

encaustic British  

/ ɪnˈkɒstɪk /

adjective

1. decorated by any process involving burning in colours, esp by inlaying coloured clays and baking or by fusing wax colours to the surface

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noun

1. the process of burning in colours

2. a product of such a process

Other Word Forms

• encaustically adverb

Etymology

Origin of encaustic

1650–60; < Latin encausticus < Greek enkaustikós for burning in. See en- ², caustic

Example Sentences

She is painted in encaustic, a beeswax medium that is very difficult to work with.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

In the adjoining bathroom, you’ll find brass switchplates and a hand-drawn and -painted black-and-white encaustic tile inspired by European antique bobbin furniture legs.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 17, 2025

Four of the icons - encaustic paintings on wood from Saint Catherine's Monastery in Egypt's Sinai desert - date from the 6th and early 7th centuries.

From Reuters • Jun. 13, 2023

Adopting these discarded — or, as she puts it, “orphaned” — photos became an obsession, and now she regularly uses them as collage elements in mysterious encaustic and multimedia paintings.

From Seattle Times • May 24, 2023

An Anglican rector with a passion for encaustic tiles could not have wrought more mischief.

From Naples Past and Present by Norway, Arthur H.