portrait
Americannoun
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a likeness of a person, especially of the face, as a painting, drawing, or photograph.
a gallery of family portraits.
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a verbal picture or description, usually of a person.
a biography that provides a fascinating portrait of an 18th-century rogue.
adjective
noun
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a painting, drawing, sculpture, photograph, or other likeness of an individual, esp of the face
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( as modifier )
a portrait gallery
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a verbal description or picture, esp of a person's character
adjective
Other Word Forms
- portraitlike adjective
Etymology
Origin of portrait
1560–70; < Middle French: a drawing, image, etc., noun use of past participle of portraire to portray
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.
Another journalist I was speaking to thought the entire thing was a metaphor and portrait of grief and depression.
Cynthia Erivo’s portrait session took place in a studio near Beverly Hills, where she had recently finished recording her latest album.
From Los Angeles Times
Anchored by Huertas’ blazing performance, Pierre Saint-Martin’s trenchant debut plays both as a portrait of a person stuck in a state of perpetual grieving and an indictment of a troubled country.
From Los Angeles Times
It's like royal superglue has been applied, connecting them in these Christmas portraits.
From BBC
“The Skating Minister,” as this unusual portrait has come to be known, is one of Scotland’s most famous paintings.
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.
