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.

According to “Duet,” Eleanor Chan’s lively illustrated history of the bond between music and the visual arts, those underground shelters were not merely ancient art galleries.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Multiple studies have shown that visual arts training improves observational skills, communication and empathy among both medical students and residents in ophthalmology, nuclear medicine, radiology, and dermatology.

From Science Daily • Nov. 14, 2024

Instead of doing that, I went to art school, which somehow was more respectable, and studied visual arts.

From Salon • Sep. 28, 2024

Sadler's Wells CEO Sir Alistair Spalding hopes the award will "do for dance what the Turner Prize has done for visual arts".

From BBC • Apr. 29, 2024

In the visual arts, the term classical refers to ancient Greece and Rome.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

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