tableau vivant
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of tableau vivant
Literally, “living picture”
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.
The guests, several of whom described the gathering for this article, played tableau vivant, an old-timey version of charades, in which participants enact famous paintings.
From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2022
After all, close scrutiny of a painting or a sculpture is not the aim of a tableau vivant.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 16, 2021
For his debut presentation, an informal tableau vivant, she made a point of not arriving until the final minutes.
From Washington Post • Jun. 2, 2018
It’s a tableau vivant of a woman dressed in a golden gown, sitting on a revolving platform and playing an E-minor chord on a guitar.
From The New Yorker • Apr. 11, 2016
Molly had clasped her hands, leaned back, lifted her eyes with an expression of sentimental rapture, and was executing an effective tableau vivant.
From The Maidens' Lodge None of Self and All of Thee, (In the Reign of Queen Anne) by Petherick, Horace
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.
