found object
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of found object
1955–60; translation of French objet trouvé
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 Readymade—the found object transformed into art—has its roots in the Picasso’s and Braque’s Cubist collages, which incorporated scraps of newspaper, textiles, sheet music and wall paper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026
Shamus Skoch, a found object artist, displays his work.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
“It’s a found object, but price-wise it’s the same as a sculpture,” he said, laughing again.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
Overhearing the occasional comment about what an abstract painting really looks like — or the sort of frustration a found object might stir — could do the art elite a bit of good.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 29, 2021
The idea that you could prepare dinner like a luminary gastronome using a found object took hold and would not let go.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2019
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.
