painted
Americanadjective
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reproduced or represented in paint.
a painted image.
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covered with a coating of paint.
a painted chair.
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unreal; artificial; feigned.
a painted life.
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exaggerated or misrepresented.
a luridly painted version of what really happened.
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covered with makeup, especially to excess.
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brightly colored or multicolored (used in combinations).
Other Word Forms
- unpainted adjective
- well-painted adjective
Etymology
Origin of painted
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at paint, -ed 2
Explanation
Anything that's painted is either covered or decorated with paint. Brightly painted walls can cheer up a room that would otherwise be dark and dull. Your colorfully painted kitchen chairs are coated with different shades of paint, and your painted fingernails might be dabbed with shiny silver nail polish. Several types of animals are also painted because they have bright or varied stripes of color on their bodies — like painted turtles' colorful shells and painted storks' bright feathers. Painted comes from paint and its Latin root, pingere, "to paint, embroider, or tattoo."
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 piece, published by the outlet last week, painted Patel’s tenure as run through with extended, “unexplained absences.”
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2026
The walls of one of the rooms in the centre were painted with motivational messages, such as "Money Coming From Everywhere" in Chinese letters.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
The tip of the firearm was painted orange, resembling a toy gun, the Sheriff’s Department wrote in a Facebook post detailing the arrest.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
The nation’s biggest banks this week painted a reassuring picture of the U.S. economy, saying consumers are still spending despite surging gas prices since the Iran war began.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026
The box was almost as wide as the road and was painted white and green.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
