word painting

American  

noun

1. an effective verbal description.

2. tone painting.

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Other Word Forms

• word painter
  noun

Etymology

Origin of word painting

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

word painting

They assiduously avoid the “I” word, painting the committee’s work as garden-variety oversight.

From Washington Times ● Sep. 18, 2019

Ms. Wilks’s most highly valued Spiegel collection works at Christie’s were Sigmar Polke’s 1964 Ben-Day dot canvas, “Frau mit Butterbrot,” and “Untitled,” a 1988 Christopher Wool word painting emblazoned with “PLEASE” six times.

From New York Times ● May 17, 2017

Accredited institutions are invited, even encouraged, to borrow, say, a simple Christopher Wool word painting or a monumentally complex tapestry of woven metal bits by El Anatsui.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2015

Even higher was the $29.9 million paid by a telephone bidder against determined opposition from the New York dealer Philippe Ségalot for the American artist Christopher Wool’s monumental 1990 black and white word painting, “Riot.”

From New York Times ● May 13, 2015

His powers of imagination were not extraordinary, and of word painting he has not left a single striking example,—not one passage that can be used for recitation or declamation in the schools.

From Reminiscences of Sixty Years in Public Affairs, Vol. 1 by George S. Boutwell