visual

American  

[vizh-oo-uhl] / ˈvɪʒ u əl /

adjective

1. of or relating to seeing or sight.

   a visual image.

2. used in seeing.

   the visual sense.

3. optical.

4. perceptible by the sense of sight; visible.

   a visual beauty.

5. perceptible by the mind; of the nature of a mental vision.

   a visual impression captured in a line of verse.

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noun

1. Usually visuals.

   1. the picture elements, as distinguished from the sound elements, in films, television, etc.

   2. photographs, slides, films, charts, or other visual materials, especially as used for illustration or promotion.

2. a rough, preliminary sketch of an advertising layout, showing possible arrangements of material.

3. any item or element depending on the sense of sight.

visual British  

/ -zjʊ-, ˈvɪʒʊəl /

adjective

1. of, relating to, done by, or used in seeing

   visual powers

   visual steering

2. another word for optical

3. capable of being seen; visible

4. of, occurring as, or induced by a mental image

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noun

1. a sketch to show the proposed layout of an advertisement, as in a newspaper

2. (often plural) a photograph, film, or other display material

Other Word Forms

• nonvisual
  adjective
• subvisual
  adjective
• supervisual
  adjective
• supervisually
  adverb
• unvisual
  adjective
• unvisually
  adverb
• visually
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of visual

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Late Latin vīsuālis, from vīsu(s) “sight” (noun use of past participle of vidēre “to see”) + -ālis -al ¹

Explanation

If you want to know the meaning of visual, just look around! Anything you can see falls under the heading of visual. What "aural" is to the ears and "olfactory" is to the nose, visual is to the eyes. It's often said that "film is a visual medium"; it uses pictures to tell a story. You have to see it to get it. That's clearly different from, say, radio which can only use audio. Have you ever closed your eyes while watching a cartoon? If you cut out the visual parts and just listen to the music and sound effects, it's often even funnier. As zany as the sounds are, they're even funnier when you separate them from their visual cues. Visual shares its root with vision, which is (not surprisingly) the ability to see. How visual!

Example Sentences

Such a game would seamlessly mold itself to individual players’ skills and tastes, constantly anticipating the narrative twists and visual landscapes that they would enjoy next.

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

Catherine Wu, head of product for Claude Code at Anthropic, says the visual flicker was a side effect of a software team moving at a rapid pace, and prioritizing the rollout of new features.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026

They also had delayed responses to visual stimuli, pointing to slower visual processing and reduced brain signaling efficiency.

From Science Daily • May 22, 2026

Both of Riley’s features as well as his 2023 Prime Video streaming series “I’m a Virgo” have a strong, active visual imagination.

From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026

In your case, your visual and hearing senses are linked.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass