Other Word Forms
- resculpt verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of sculpt
1860–65; < French sculpter < Latin sculpt- (past participle stem of sculpere to carve); or as back formation from sculptor
Explanation
To sculpt is to shape or carve a figure out of a moldable or hard material. You could sculpt a figure of your mom's cat or you could sculpt your biceps by lifting weights. Artists who sculpt are called sculptors, and the work of art they make is called a sculpture. You can sculpt out of wood or stone, by carving, or sculpt clay by molding and shaping. You can sculpt metal by heating it and pouring it into molds, or by welding pieces of it together. It's even possible to sculpt with balloons, twisting them into complicated structures or figures.
Vocabulary lists containing sculpt
"Brothers in Hope"
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Unit 17, Lesson 4
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Black Girl You Are Atlas
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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.
The Murdochs declined to participate, but decades’ worth of archival footage gives Garbus plenty to sculpt.
From Salon • Mar. 14, 2026
Listening to music rushes her work because she is tempted to sculpt or sew or cook to the beat.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026
The manosphere’s sobriety is robed in strength and self-actualization, no different than the sleep routine, supplements, and squats that will sculpt the best version of you.
From Slate • Feb. 15, 2026
The day after she and her husband, Jack, sculpt the figure of a child out of snow, an ethereal waif emerges from the wilderness.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026
And now he’s thrown everything—all his talent, all his energy—into helping us paint and draw and sculpt and grow up.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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.
