sculpture
Americannoun
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sculptures
plural
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the art of carving, modeling, welding, or otherwise producing figurative or abstract works of art in three dimensions, as in relief, intaglio, or in the round.
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such works of art collectively.
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an individual piece of such work.
verb (used with object)
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sculptures,
present (3rd person singular)
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sculptured,
past participle, past
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sculpturing
present participle
-
to carve, model, weld, or otherwise produce (a piece of sculpture).
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to produce a portrait or image of in this way; represent in sculpture.
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Physical Geography. to change the form of (the land surface) by erosion.
verb (used without object)
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sculptures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sculptured,
past participle, past
-
sculpturing
present participle
noun
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the art of making figures or designs in relief or the round by carving wood, moulding plaster, etc, or casting metals, etc
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works or a work made in this way
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ridges or indentations as on a shell, formed by natural processes
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the gradual formation of the landscape by erosion
verb
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(also intr) to carve, cast, or fashion (stone, bronze, etc) three dimensionally
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to portray (a person, etc) by means of sculpture
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to form in the manner of sculpture, esp to shape (landscape) by erosion
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to decorate with sculpture
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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resculptureverb (used with object)
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nonsculpturaladjective
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sculpturaladjective
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unsculpturaladjective
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nonsculpturallyadverb
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sculpturallyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sculpturesimple
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sculpturessimple
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have sculpturedperfect
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has sculpturedperfect
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am sculpturingprogressive
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are sculpturingprogressive
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is sculpturingprogressive
-
have been sculpturingperfect progressive
-
has been sculpturingperfect progressive
Past
-
sculpturedsimple
-
had sculpturedperfect
-
was sculpturingprogressive
-
were sculpturingprogressive
-
had been sculpturingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sculpture
1350–1400; Middle English (noun) < Latin sculptūra, equivalent to sculpt ( us ) (past participle of sculpere to carve) + -ūra -ure
Explanation
Sculpture is a type of artwork that's two- or three-dimensional, so you can see it from different sides. You can make sculpture from clay, marble, wood, and even mashed potatoes, though the potato kind might not make it into an art museum. From the Latin sculpere "to carve," sculpture often is carved out of a block of wood, stone, or other material. Statues and outdoor artworks are one type of sculpture, and they are freestanding — you can walk around them, under them, or even over them. Other types are carved into walls, with the figures or objects sticking out from a flat surface. Artists called sculptors use soft materials, metal, and even ice and common objects like cars and cans to make sculpture.
Vocabulary lists containing sculpture
Brown Girl Dreaming
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Ancient Egypt and Kush, Lessons 1–3
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Visual Arts - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
The ecclesiastical sculpture in rural Konotopie was consecrated by a local bishop in a ceremony on Saturday, a day chosen to coincide with the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
Schnoebelen said that the sculpture could’ve been created by Adaline Kent, Helen Phillips or Sargent Claude Johnson, whose sculptures were displayed at the World’s Fair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
"Evolution is chiseling a sculpture, not constructing a building," Gokcumen said.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026
Its centrepiece is the mixed media sculpture of Martin the mammoth, which has ceramic yellow toenails and a latex tongue.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The only movement within the circus is the clock that ticks by the passing minutes, if such a wonder of sculpture can even be called a clock.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Schnoebelen said that the sculpture could’ve been created by Adaline Kent, Helen Phillips or Sargent Claude Johnson, whose sculptures were displayed at the World’s Fair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
“The Court of Pacifica” also included a fountain of 20 other sculptures representing the Pacifica community.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Josep Maria Subirachs’s stylized sculptures, commissioned in 1986 for the church’s western wall, are more legible.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
A veritable bestiary of nearly 100 sculptures by dozens of artists offers the opportunity to bask in the diverse glory of the animal—and creative—kingdoms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
The central jade green lake mirrored the arching tiled roofs of the pavilions and the rough beauty of large weathered rock sculptures.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
Price was best known for his sculptured silhouettes and theatrical styles, including pastel suits which featured in rock band Duran Duran's music video Rio.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2025
Coming upon the sculptured, skeletal, bemused-looking goat in 1952’s “La Chèvre,” around the corner, may lead you to hope that wisdom sometimes comes with age.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
Natalie Tanner was one of the first people to move into the development, and said she was promised sculptured gardens, which are yet to materialise.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2023
The idea is that you place your hand inside the mouth of this large sculptured mask, and then let the magic of the Bocca della Verita be your lie detector.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 11, 2021
I hurried to my address and was challenged by the sheer height of the white stone with its sculptured bronze façade.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
A busboy is embraced by the beatnik art community when he develops an impressive but morbid method of sculpturing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2019
The moon was just rising, molten white; he had to catch that moment with its surreal, sculpturing incandescence.
From New York Times ● Jan. 24, 2013
“Then we would cut the foam board and build it up,” he said, often sculpturing it to fit the shapes in the painting.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2012
The Weinstein Company is set to release “Butter,” in which Jennifer Garner plays an ambitious conservative who gets caught up in the world of competitive butter sculpturing, on Oct.
From New York Times ● May 30, 2012
Mr. Perring represents this fragment of sculpturing from the brick Pyramid of Dashoor, in his folio work, The Pyramids of Gizeh, plate xiii.
From Archaeological Essays, Vol. 1 by John Stuart
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.
