pictorial
Americanadjective
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pertaining to, expressed in, or of the nature of a picture.
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illustrated by or containing pictures.
a pictorial history.
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of or relating to the art of painting and drawing pictures, the pictures themselves, or their makers.
the pictorial masterpieces of the Renaissance.
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having or suggesting the visual appeal or imagery of a picture.
a pictorial metaphor.
- Synonyms:
- telling, striking, vivid, picturesque
noun
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a periodical in which pictures constitute an important feature.
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a magazine feature that is primarily photographic.
adjective
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relating to, consisting of, or expressed by pictures
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(of books, newspapers, etc) containing pictures
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of or relating to painting or drawing
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(of language, style, etc) suggesting a picture; vivid; graphic
noun
Other Word Forms
- nonpictorial adjective
- nonpictorially adverb
- pictorially adverb
- pictorialness noun
- semipictorial adjective
- semipictorially adverb
- unpictorial adjective
- unpictorially adverb
Etymology
Origin of pictorial
1640–50; < Latin pictōri ( us ) of painting ( pic- , variant stem of pingere to paint + -tōrius -tory 1 ) + -al 1
Explanation
If something's pictorial, it has illustrations or photographs. A graphic novel is a pictorial way to tell a story. Years ago, a pictorial was the name for a magazine that had far more pictures than text, but today the word is mostly used to mean "illustrated." Many books for very young children are mainly pictorial, and you could call your grandparents' photo album a pictorial record of their life together. Pictorial comes from the Latin word pictorius, "of a painter," from pingere, "to paint."
Vocabulary lists containing pictorial
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.
We leave the show realizing that Viollet-le-Duc was one of the world’s great pictorial thinkers, whose graphic curiosity recognized no boundaries between geology, anatomy and architecture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026
For current fans, “Somewhere, a Boy and a Bear,” by Gyles Brandreth, and “The Making of Winnie-the-Pooh,” by James Campbell, remind us of the verbal and pictorial pleasures of Pooh.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
The stylistic choices result in a striking, distinctly pictorial aesthetic in line with earlier projects that Han and Vallade worked on, such as “Long Way North” and “Calamity,” both directed by Rémi Chayé.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 7, 2025
In one of the earliest examples of his "pictorial" photography, Fading Away, Robinson combined five separate negatives to produce a scene showing a dying girl surrounded by her family.
From BBC • May 10, 2025
The pictorial space, with its indeterminate depth, becomes continuous with ours, despite the fact that the frame cuts off the figure.
From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson
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.
