portraiture

noun

ˈpȯr-trə-ˌchu̇r How to pronounce portraiture (audio)
Definition of portraiturenext
as in portrait
a vivid representation in words of someone or something the author's meticulous portraiture of a small Midwestern town at the turn of the century

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of portraiture The humble accessory that once adorned fainting couches in early 19th-century portraiture is appearing across modern bedrooms, from Ariel Kaye’s house to Brunch With Babs’s Connecticut home to this Palm Beach Spanish-style retreat. — Julia Harrison, Architectural Digest, 1 July 2026 At least in their professionalism, Whitehead’s protagonists have always had an element of self-portraiture. — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 22 June 2026 Across cultural history, elite sport, climate emergency and intimate observational portraiture, local companies are shaping projects that start from Canarian experience and reach out from there. — Callum McLennan, Variety, 19 June 2026 But, typical of Hockney portraiture, the resulting drawings magnificently captured every crag in Auden’s impossibly craggy face. — Mark Rozzo, Vanity Fair, 12 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for portraiture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portraiture
  1. portrait
  2. description
  3. portrayal
  4. depiction
Noun
  • Other works set to screen at the BFI include several of Maldoror’s non-fiction films, like Aimé Césaire, A Man, A Land, a documentary portrait of the Martinican author Aimé Césaire.
    — Zac Ntim, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The story begins as a richly detailed portrait of a woman who quietly accepts her role as the wife of a man who doesn’t recognize her value.
    — Ed Masley, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of portrait
Noun
  • The camera captures a car's license plate numbers, a car's description, and the date, time and location a vehicle passed through, and uploads the data to a searchable database customers can use.
    — Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Soon after its release, Cusk was sued by one of the people mentioned in the book, who recognized himself based on Cusk’s description.
    — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of description
Noun
  • The film stars Will Smith in his Oscar-winning portrayal of the Williams sisters’ father, Richard Williams.
    — Escher Walcott, PEOPLE, 1 Sep. 2026
  • Adventureland and Zombieland brought his wider recognition, followed by his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network.
    — Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of portrayal
Noun
  • On one wall, the ambassador installed Marc Lipp’s Fight Fight Fight, a depiction of Trump with a bloody ear and raised fist painted by one of the president’s favorite Palm Beach watercolorists.
    — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
  • In her depiction of the exhausting vigilance this reality required, through a second-person voice cannily implicating her reader, Rankine created a new language to identify a problem as old as the United States.
    — Charles Finch, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of depiction

Browse Nearby Words

portraits
portraiture
portraitures
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Portraiture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portraiture. Accessed 3 Sep. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on portraiture

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about portraiture

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