still life

American  

noun

plural

still lifes

1. a representation chiefly of inanimate objects, as a painting of a bowl of fruit.

2. the category of subject matter in which inanimate objects are represented, as in painting or photography.

---

still life British  

noun

1. 1. a painting or drawing of inanimate objects, such as fruit, flowers, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a still-life painting

2. the genre of such paintings

---

Other Word Forms

• still-life adjective

Etymology

Origin of still life

First recorded in 1635–45

Example Sentences

Lutnick’s testimony this past week, like Bondi’s, is thus operating as a still life in what happens when the law becomes inert.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2026

I don’t consider Klee—sui generis—to be a Surrealist, but “Fish Magic,” merging aquarium, children’s art, still life, cosmos and landscape, is the quintessential portrait of a dream.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025

For all the movie’s crisp attention to bifurcated lives, “The History of Sound” more aptly resembles a painstakingly dry still life than a moving picture.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 12, 2025

The origins of food-focused art date back to 17th and 18th-century Dutch still life paintings, in which food was utilized as “a narrative device,” wrote Elizabeth Goodspeed for the creative platform It’s Nice That.

From Salon • Jun. 29, 2025

Before I could ever get to my life, conscience was arranging it all like a still life or tableau.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez