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
They fit in well with Philadelphia’s collection, evoking at once Duchamp’s devotion to the found object and Cézanne’s obsession with process.
From New York Times • Sep. 13, 2021
At a time when the U.S. president is facing impeachment — and the -gate suffix seems ubiquitous — the stage for the exhibition is a found object in its own right.
From Washington Post • Nov. 14, 2019
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.
