tableau
Americannoun
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tableaux,
plural
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tableaus
plural
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a picture, as of a scene.
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a picturesque grouping of persons or objects; a striking scene.
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a representation of a picture, statue, scene, etc., by one or more persons suitably costumed and posed.
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Solitaire. the portion of a layout to which one may add cards according to suit or denomination.
noun
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See tableau vivant
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a pause during or at the end of a scene on stage when all the performers briefly freeze in position
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any dramatic group or scene
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logic short for semantic tableau
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tableau
First recorded in 1690–1700; from French: “board, picture,” Middle French tablel, diminutive of table table
Explanation
A tableau is a dramatic picture. If you catch a glance into the Oval Office and see top advisers speaking to each other with intensity, you behold a dramatic political tableau. Tableau comes from the old French for "picture, or painted target." We usually use tableau to describe a vivid living scene. If you are a journalist and want to describe the tension in a courtroom, you might write a verbal tableau of the judge, the jury, and the witness box. People used to entertain themselves by doing tableau vivant, or living pictures, by reenacting perfectly the frozen scene of a famous painting.
Vocabulary lists containing tableau
The Diary of Anne Frank
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The Handmaid's Tale
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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:
As we left the area, we saw a tableau of suffering with families dotted around seeking shelter under scrawny trees.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The exquisite comic reversal of the Turkey episode was that, this time, he was no longer directing the tableau.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The modular couch is anchored on each side with Art-Deco influenced side tables, lamps and light blue slipper chairs he designed, setting up a cozy tableau for hosting his friends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
The surrounding landscape—a moody tableau of steel-gray skies and jagged mountains—is the work of AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
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
Our critic called it “a loosely sketched drama told via visually impeccable tableaus and a few flights of well-staged fancy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 25, 2026
These tableaus take place against the backdrop of an increasingly militarized vision of Christmas that permeates American pop culture.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025
Polaroids, knick knacks and mementos are carefully arranged in various tableaus — much as he left them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2025
Following the processions, the bonfire societies burned their tableaus and let off fireworks in their respective fields.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2024
Millet had planned an elaborate series of explosive “set pieces,” fireworks affixed to large metal frames shaped to depict various portraits and tableaus.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
From the earliest days of photography, artists have staged tableaux for the camera, often using painting and literature as inspiration.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Shakespeare in the park is the dominant form of outdoor theater, but don’t miss out on seeing Broadway musicals in Rancho Mirage, the ancients at Getty Villa or tableaux come to life in Laguna Beach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
The London museum highlights the 18th-century painter’s rich, shadowy tableaux, emblematic of their age of intellectual discovery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Unlike military parades in many Western capitals, India's Republic Day also blends displays of its military capability with cultural performances and regional tableaux, projecting both power and diversity.
From BBC ● Jan. 24, 2026
Obviously it was not Lady Constance; she seemed as dismayed by the content of the tableaux as Penelope was.
From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
