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Synonyms

mural

American  
[myoor-uhl] / ˈmyʊər əl /

noun

  1. a large picture painted or affixed directly on a wall or ceiling.

  2. a greatly enlarged photograph attached directly to a wall.

  3. a wallpaper pattern representing a landscape or the like, often with very widely spaced repeats so as to produce the effect of a mural painting on a wall of average size; a trompe l'oeil.

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or resembling a wall.

  2. executed on or affixed to a wall.

    mural inscriptions.

  3. pertaining to any of several astronomical instruments that were affixed to a wall aligned on the plane of a meridian, and were formerly used to measure the altitude of celestial bodies.

    a mural quadrant; a mural circle.
mural British  
/ ˈmjʊərəl /

noun

  1. a large painting or picture on a wall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of or relating to a wall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
mural Cultural  

  1. A painting, usually large, made directly on a wall.

Discover More

The Mexican artist Diego Rivera was noted for his production of murals.

Other Word Forms

  • muralist noun

Etymology

Origin of mural

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin mūrālis, equivalent to mūr ( us ) wall + -ālis -al 1

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.

To represent her transition from the purple aesthetic of her “Sour” and “Guts” albums, a mural in Los Angeles was repainted from purple to light pink a few weeks ago alongside a new “OR” logo.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 2, 2026

In the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, artist MisterAlek transformed a Cesar Chavez mural he painted in 2021 and replaced it with a painting of Delores Huerta.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

"I'd love to bring this mural into the 21st Century," said artist JD "Zender" Estrada.

From BBC • Mar. 30, 2026

As of early Saturday afternoon, Vargas still had a lot of painting to do in order to have the mural finished by the official unveiling at 10 a.m.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026

There’s a big mural of it at school in the main hallway.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

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.