visual arts

American

plural noun

the arts created primarily for visual perception, as drawing, graphics, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts.

visual arts British

plural noun

the arts of painting, sculpting, photography, etc, as opposed to music, drama, and literature

"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

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.

Unlike the other visual arts, photography nowadays is practiced by virtually everyone and, to a greater extent than the other visual arts, it is put to more uses than just aesthetic pleasure.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026

The best friends met at the creative arts high school where Escoto studied visual arts and Perkins learned dance.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 20, 2025

He was appointed an OBE for services to visual arts in 2003.

From BBC • Mar. 3, 2025

However, studies examining the benefits of visual arts training for neurology residents remain scarce.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2024

If, in order to simplify our problem, we concentrate on the visual arts, we might say that a work of art must be a tangible thing shaped by human hands.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023