watercolor
Americannoun
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a pigment for which water and not oil is used as the vehicle.
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the art or technique of painting with such pigments.
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a painting or design executed in such pigments by this technique.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of watercolor
Explanation
Watercolors are a type of paint that can be mixed with water to create translucent layers of color on paper. You can also call a painting made this way a watercolor. Anyone can paint with watercolors, from toddlers to professional artists. Historians believe that watercolor painting has been around since Paleolithic cave paintings, but it was during the Renaissance that watercolors gained popularity as an artistic medium. It was particularly common for illustrations in books and botanical guides to be made using watercolors into the 19th century, when John James Audubon began his well-known watercolor bird illustrations and field guides.
Vocabulary lists containing watercolor
Visual Arts - Introductory
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Visual Arts - High School
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Art History
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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.
Inspired by the 1771 watercolor 'Night view of a current of lava' by British-Italian artist Pietro Fabris, the device was designed to use light and movement to mimic flowing lava and explosive bursts from Vesuvius.
From Science Daily • May 2, 2026
There was also a tribute to the late Rob Reiner and some misty watercolor memories from Barbra Streisand for the late Robert Redford.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 16, 2026
For me, the usual suspects appear: swimming, dancing, watercolor painting, riding my bike — ideally by a body of water — and, crucially, cooking.
From Salon • Nov. 18, 2025
Contemporary battlefield sketches, grand post-war history paintings, elegant portraits of the major military and political figures, along with watercolor illustrations and unobtrusive live-action recreations bring the tale to life.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2025
Later, after dinner, she gives me a beautiful set of watercolor pencils that had been on my wish list for months.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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.
