tableau vivant

[ ta-bloh vee-vahn ]

/ ta bloʊ viˈvɑ̃ /

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noun, plural ta·bleaux vi·vants

[ta-bloh vee-vahn]. /ta bloʊ viˈvɑ̃/. French.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of tableau vivant

Literally, “living picture”

Words nearby tableau vivant

Tablas, tablature, table, tableau, tableau curtain, tableau vivant, Table Bay, table board, tablecloth, table corn, table cut

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tableau vivant in a sentence

The next minute they are frozen in an eerie, extended tableau vivant——a still-life that's not actually still.
‘A Field in England’ Is a Psychedelic Cinematic Trip|Andrew Romano|February 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
One by one the young models stepped from the tableau vivant to march down the stage and back up again.
The Look That Defined Fashion Week|Robin Givhan|September 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST
And that will be the best tableau-vivant you or any one else can study.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 56, Number 348|Various
It spreads before you every day and all around you: a picture whose figures throb with hidden life,a very tableau vivant.
A New Atmosphere|Gail Hamilton

I very much enjoy a letter from Joan, which gives me a kind of tableau vivant of you all.
Life of John Coleridge Patteson|Charlotte M. Yonge
The other drawing presents a tableau vivant on a larger scale, and of a much deeper interest.
Leading Articles on Various Subjects|Hugh Miller
And 189 in this transcript of the larger tableau vivant we find exactly the same phenomena.
Leading Articles on Various Subjects|Hugh Miller

British Dictionary definitions for tableau vivant

tableau vivant

/ French (tablo vivɑ̃) /

noun plural tableaux vivants (tablo vivɑ̃)

a representation of a scene, painting, sculpture, etc, by a person or group posed silent and motionless

Word Origin for tableau vivant

C19: literally: living picture

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012