statue
Americannoun
-
statues
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of statue
1300–50; Middle English < Middle French < Latin statua, noun derivative of statuere to set up, itself derivative of status ( see status)
Explanation
To stand as still as a statue is to stand absolutely still, a statue being a sculpture, after all. A statue is a specific kind of sculpture, one that clearly represents a person, an animal, or other living creature. There's no question that the first thing most people think of when they hear the word statue is the Statue of Liberty. The woman's name is Liberty and there she is, a statue. Any sculpture that represents a person (Liberty, George Washington, Gandhi, or the Mad Hatter) is called a statue. In New York's Central Park, there is a much beloved statue of a dog named Balto, a heroic husky from Alaska.
Vocabulary lists containing statue
Academy Awards, List 1
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"The Secret Water"
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Commonly Confused Words, List 3
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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:
"It goes beyond having decent toilets in schools," lycée student Alcidor says in Paris, under the statue of Marianne at Place de la République, a place synonymous with protest.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Their once-fearsome leader, a statue of Julius Caesar, now goes by JC and sports a backward baseball cap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
A life-size bronze statue of California’s first Kentucky Derby winner was stolen last week from a road median in north Sacramento.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2026
Xi received the full pageantry of a state visit: a 21-gun salute, a flyover of U.S. jet fighters and a stealth bomber and a gift in the form of a large bald eagle statue.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026
Regan, meanwhile, stood like a statue, her face twisted into an odd expression I’d never seen before.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
A double-page illustration of the bustling crowds around the Colosseum acts as both an entertaining “Where’s Waldo?”-esque search for the statues and an example of the frenetic discombobulation they feel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“We know there is a low percentage of women who have statues in our country,” Leslie said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
“Pluribus” star Rhea Seehorn finally won the best actress statues that long eluded her, and series creator Vince Gilligan scored a writing Emmy.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2026
Glyndŵr has since become a figurehead for Welsh nationalism and there are statues, monuments, pubs and street names across Wales commemorating him.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
“Maybe, maybe not. There are statues of the gods all over the place in Italy. I’d just feel better if we ran across Jupiter. Or Minerva. Anybody but Neptune, really.”
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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.
