tapestry
Americannoun
-
a fabric consisting of a warp upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design, often pictorial, used for wall hangings, furniture coverings, etc.
-
a machine-woven reproduction of this.
verb (used with object)
-
to furnish, cover, or adorn with tapestry.
-
to represent or depict in a tapestry.
noun
-
a heavy ornamental fabric, often in the form of a picture, used for wall hangings, furnishings, etc, and made by weaving coloured threads into a fixed warp
-
another word for needlepoint
-
a colourful and complicated situation
the rich tapestry of London life
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tapestry
1400–50; late Middle English tapst ( e ) ry, tapistry < Middle French tapisserie carpeting. See tapis, -ery
Explanation
A tapestry is a picture woven into cloth. It's a decorative rug you hang on the wall, with detailed images or designs on it. Some tapestries, like the famous Unicorn Tapestries, tell stories with their pictures. Weaving an image into cloth is a brilliant idea — it makes art accessible and portable. And a tapestry offers something a painting can't: warmth. Think of those cold castle walls in medieval Europe, add a tapestry, and you're warmer already. You can use tapestry to describe anything that's multi-layered and complex, like the tapestry of life in a rural town, or the tapestry of your family history, or the tapestry of plot and character in your favorite novel.
Vocabulary lists containing tapestry
"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Other Words for Home
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Medieval Europe - Introductory
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
In the process, McElwee creates a patchwork tapestry, comprised of vignettes across time.
From Salon ● Jul. 24, 2026
There has been alarm from some, particularly in France, that the tapestry was too precious to move from there to the UK.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
"This is the most famous scene in the tapestry," Dr Musgrove says.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The tapestry begins in 1064 or 65, when Harold, the most powerful earl in England and brother-in-law of king Edward the Confessor, is sent to Normandy, now in northern France.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
The sky was a tapestry of gold and crimson, fringed by the deepest indigo to the east.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
They select complementary textual threads from vast data warehouses and weave them together to create tapestries of prose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
We are put in charge of making our own way, through tapestries and tea sets, past ancient jug and contemporary sphinx, without heavy-handed authoritative direction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Highlights include the first painting he completed entirely on his own, as well as tapestries designed for the Sistine Chapel.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
Pairing paintings, tapestries and sculptures with songs and sound clips, these museums have become unlikely social-media stars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 31, 2025
They traded their yarns and cloth and tapestries for grain and potatoes and carrots and onions.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
The showiest destination of all is table 56, a dome-shaped tapestried booth.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 7, 2020
The film academy took the backdrop from the “Fit as a Fiddle” number in “Singin’ in the Rain,” the eerie landscape of “Forbidden Planet,” the tapestried walls of “Marie Antoinette,” the office from “Adam’s Rib.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2019
Their music echoes among the buttresses of the Hall’s ceiling, and dies in the tapestried dimness beyond our tables where the servants come and go.
From Salon ● Jun. 8, 2019
A wedding party of Africans and African-Americans tripped through, decked to the nines, some in gleaming white linen and tapestried skull caps.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2015
It was always cold in the tower, for all the carpets and the tapestried hangings and the rich furred clothing and the broad marble fireplaces they had.
From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Trees vaulted the way tapestrying it with their leaves, between which one caught peeps at the sea, a shimmer of blue through a shimmer of green.
From Noto: an Unexplained Corner of Japan by Lowell, Percival
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.
