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.
One subsequent sitter would be Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, who had reportedly hated More so much that upon his execution she threw his portrait to the ground.
It’s a portrait of him, and then she comes into it for a while and it turns into a kind of buddy thing.
From Salon
Ms. Alexander, deservedly Oscar-nominated for the role, creates a grounded, subtle portrait of persevering motherhood, Carol’s husband never having returned from San Francisco and very likely dead.
The video also showed Kim presenting Lukashenko with a large mosaic vase bearing a portrait of the Belarusian, with the North Korean leader appearing to explain that crafting it involved around 30 seashells.
From Barron's
“I wanted to paint a hazy portrait of the Midwest but not in such a literal way,” she said.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
