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Synonyms

oil painting

American  

noun

  1. the art or technique of painting with oil colors.

  2. a painting executed in oil colors.

oil painting British  

noun

  1. a picture painted with oil paints

  2. the art or process of painting with oil paints

  3. informal he is not good-looking

"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

Other Word Forms

  • oil painter noun

Etymology

Origin of oil painting

First recorded in 1775–85

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.

In the oil painting, a young woman in a red dress sits on the edge of a motel bed, gripping the footboard tensely.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2025

A campaign to buy and exhibit JMW Turner's earliest known oil painting in a museum has raised more than £100,000 in five days.

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2025

A council has launched a one-week fundraiser to return JMW Turner's earliest-known oil painting "to its home".

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2025

You learn all of it — art drawing, oil painting, mixed media.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2025

He was assailed by the sight of a life-size oil painting of a man in uniform with enough facial hair to stuff a small cushion.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

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.