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

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

From Washington Times • Sep. 18, 2019

In typical fashion, Handel uses word painting to reinforce the message, sending the vocal part through elaborate undulating runs on the word “changed.”

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2015

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

With a fellow collector-investor, John Sayegh-Belchatowski, he paid $14.2 million in November for a similar Wool word painting, “Fool,” at Christie’s.

From New York Times • May 13, 2015

Painting, indeed, is not praised amiss with that word; painting is obviously an art that exists by its convention—the convention is the art. 

From The Colour of Life; and other essays on things seen and heard by Meynell, Alice Christiana Thompson