noun
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the practice or art of making portraits
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another term for portrait
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portraits collectively
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a verbal description
Etymology
Origin of portraiture
Explanation
The process of painting a picture or taking a photograph of a person is called portraiture. If an art exhibit only includes pictures of faces, you can describe its focus as portraiture. Portraiture is the art of making a portrait, which is a close study of one person. Taking a candid snapshot of your friend riding by on her skateboard isn't portraiture. But if you ask your friend to pose with her skateboard while you take a photo — that's what portraiture is all about. Painters who specialize in portraiture often have subjects "sit" while their portraits are painted. Portraiture is rooted in the Old French portraire, "to paint."
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.
Gainsborough studied Van Dyck’s composition and color, and in maturity absorbed elements of the master—the grand scroop of silk, the drama of the gaze—into his own portraiture.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
Even in my celebrity portraiture, I aim to capture a narrative.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 23, 2025
"Using drawn portraiture and movement, Rama examines the nuances of sisterhood and communal experiences," Ms Duwaji's professional website reads.
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025
The auctioneer's Luke Bodalbhai said the Fellowes painting exhibited Carriera's "talent as one of the leading lights of 18th Century portraiture".
From BBC • Sep. 19, 2025
In these stacked blocks of portraiture, Annie stared at the camera, unchanged from frame to frame.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
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.
