motif
noun
a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.
motifs
-
pluralof motif.plural
The grammatical form denoting more than one person, place, thing, or idea.
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.
More elaborate designs, including hatched bands, grids, and diamond-shaped motifs, also showed evidence of rotation, translation, repetition, and "embedding," i.e., the ability to build hierarchical levels of signs within the same surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 9, 2026
Following his previous film, “The Neon Demon,” “Her Private Hell” finds the director returning to some of his beloved motifs, such as impossibly glamorous yet noir-tinged spaces populated by blank-faced beauties in wickedly chic clothes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Birdsong all around the world, they say, is made up of combinations of these motifs - three types of trill, three types of whistle, chaotic notes and harmonies.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Are the women in Vermeer’s light-filled interiors cryptic embodiments of Collegiant doctrine or secularized Jesuit motifs?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
I had looked closely at the elaborate motifs of her tablecloths and doilies and had tried to draw them on lined notebook paper or on flattened grocery bags.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
