figurine
Americannoun
-
figurines
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of figurine
1850–55; < French < Italian figurina, equivalent to figur ( a ) figure + -ina -ine 1 (here diminutive)
Explanation
A figurine is a small carved or molded statue, especially one in the shape of a person. If you have an extensive collection of figurines, you need to keep them high up and safe so your kids don't break them. The word figurine is from the Italian word figurina, which itself is based on the Latin word figura, which means shape, body, or figure. You can buy all sorts of figurines. If you like movies, you can collect figurines that depict famous movie characters. You can also get figurines of comic book heroes. It's even common to have the figurine of a saint.
Vocabulary lists containing figurine
Purple Hibiscus
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The Stone Age - Middle School and High School
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The Stone Age - Introductory
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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:
For the quarterfinal, Rodman carried a Shelton figurine, possibly as a good luck charm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Four days later, Carney addressed the nation displaying a figurine of Gen. Isaac Brock, who repelled U.S. forces invading what is today Canada in the War of 1812.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
The miniature versions have fewer than 1,000 pieces, including a purple lightning bolt for the extreme ultraviolet light—and a Lego figurine dressed in a bunny suit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 20, 2026
In Vogelherd Cave in Lone Valley, for example, archaeologists uncovered a small mammoth figurine carved from mammoth ivory.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 25, 2026
One time I went out back with my favorite toy, a plastic Tinkerbell figurine.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
In July, while taking bids for figurines from the Sonny Angels summer vacation-themed collection, one of the rare ones got a bid of more than $400.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
You can see if you know more about the ’90s than our resident Gen Xer, play a crossword that includes references to Beanie Babies and Hummel figurines, and more.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Even Imhotep, for all his work on the early pyramids, seems to have inspired only small figurines, and only when he became a deity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026
Pop Mart's Labubu figurines, for example, became a global phenomenon with minimal traditional advertising.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
A year or so earlier these same girls had been porcelain figurines, gingerly dipping their toes into the disinfectant basin at the public pool.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
