portrait1 nounportrait2 adjective
portraitpor‧trait1 /ˈpɔːtrɪt $ ˈpɔːr-/ ●●○ noun [countable] 
WORD ORIGINportrait
Origin:
1500-1600 French portraire; ➔ PORTRAYEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A full-length portrait of the Queen hung on the wall.
- The artist Hans Holbein was best known for painting portraits.
- A portrait of the Virgin Mary looms behind him like a heavenly guardian.
- I found myself staring at the portrait, which was still propped on the cedar table.
- Lunia was flattered at having her portrait painted by a gifted artist, but at first she felt rather intimidated by the experience.
- Note also the 1709 portrait of the miniaturist Karl Bruni by Jan Kupecký.
- The making of personal portraits was part of this popular aesthetic, firmly embedded in commercial practices.
- They took formal portraits of the two leaders side by side in wingback chairs, smiling again.
- West's elegy magnifies the warts and the amours, yet gives poetic poignancy to the portraits he draws here.
- Whether or not it can be seen as Kelman's self-portrait, it is the portrait of an artist.
THESAURUS
shapes, lines etc painted or drawn on a surface, especially as a piece of art, and often showing what someone or something looks like: · a picture of a horse· He painted the picture in 1890, just before he died.
a picture drawn with a pencil, pen etc: · We had to do a drawing of a sunflower.
a picture that is drawn quickly: · I made a quick sketch of the kind of room we wanted.
a picture made using paint: · The painting now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art.· Picasso did several paintings of her.
a picture of a person: · The portrait was painted by Rembrandt.
a picture of a place, especially in the countryside or the mountains: · Constable painted mainly landscapes.
a funny drawing in a newspaper or magazine that tells a story or a joke: · A cartoon in the New York Times showed the president talking to Osama Bin Laden.
a series of pictures drawn inside boxes that tell a story: · Charles Schultz was famous for his cartoon strip about Snoopy and Charlie Brown.
a funny drawing of someone that makes a part of someone’s face or body look bigger, worse etc than it really is, especially in a funny way: · He is famous for his caricatures of politicians.
a picture in a book: · The book has over 100 pages of illustrations, most of them in colour.
a large picture printed on paper that you stick to a wall as decoration: · old movie posters· There were lots of posters of pop bands on her bedroom wall.
a picture that is usually produced on a printing press, and is one of a series of copies of the same picture: · a limited edition of lithographic prints by John Lennon
a picture – used especially when talking about what the picture is like, or the effect it has on you: · He produced some memorable images.· a beautiful image· Some of the images are deeply disturbing.
pictures or photographs, especially ones that have been produced to be used in a book or magazine: · We are still waiting for the artwork to come back from the printers.
Longman Language Activatora picture that you paint or draw a painting or drawing: · Van Gogh's "Sunflowers' is one of the most famous pictures in the world.· an early picture by the French Impressionist painter Claude Monetpicture of: · There was a picture of a windmill on the bedroom wall.somebody's picture (=a painting or drawing of someone): · The house belonged to the Duke of Wellington, and his picture hangs in the hall.draw/paint a picture: · I didn't know the word in Japanese so I drew a little picture.do a picture spoken (=draw or paint a picture): · Daisy did a lovely picture of a cat at school today.
a picture that someone has painted: · an exhibition of paintings by French artists· The museum has an impressive collection of early 20th century American paintings.painting of: · a painting of the Grand Canal in Venice by Canaletto· Gaugin is famous for his paintings of native women on the Pacific island of Tahiti.do a painting: · Dali did several paintings of his wife.
a picture that has been drawn using a pen or pencil: · The classroom was bright and cheerful, with childrens' drawings on the walls.drawing of: · On the wall was a drawing of a woman's head by Matisse.do a drawing: · Degas did a series of drawings of dancers at the ballet school in Paris.
a picture consisting of a few lines drawn quickly with a pen or pencil: sketch of: · I thought your sketches of the garden were very attractive.do/make a sketch: · The architect did a sketch of how the building will look when it's finished.quick/rough sketch (=a sketch done very quickly): · Gabriella did a quick sketch of her baby daughter.
a picture in a book, which shows people or events that have been mentioned in the book: · The new encyclopedia is full of color illustrations and photographs.· Who did the illustrations for the book? They're lovely.
a very large picture or photograph printed on paper, which you put on a wall for decoration: poster of: · Anna's bedroom wall was covered in posters of James Dean and Marilyn Monroe.
a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person: portrait of: · A full-length portrait of the Queen hung on the wall.paint a portrait: · The artist Hans Holbein was best known for painting portraits.self-portrait (=a picture of the artist done by the artist): · Rembrandt's "Self-portrait with feather in cap"· A series of 43 self-portraits by Greek-born American Lucas Samaras (b. 1936) have been donated to the Museum of Modern Art, New York.
a painting or photograph showing an area of countryside: · "What kind of photographs do you take?" "Mostly landscapes, and some portraits."landscape painter/artist/photographer: · Constable is probably England's most famous landscape artist.
a small detailed drawing, especially one which is done in order to prepare for a larger picture, or as part of a series of drawings of the same kind of subject: study of: · Renoir did several studies of small plants and flowers.study for: · The exhibition includes a series of studies by Picasso for his painting Guernica.
a picture of someone without any clothes on: · To be honest, I prefer his flower pictures to his nudes.· a nude by Picasso
WORD SETSabstract, nounacrylic, adjectiveacrylics, nounaltarpiece, nounaquatint, nounbrush, nounbrushwork, nouncanvas, nouncartridge paper, nouncollage, nouncubism, noundiptych, noundrawing, nouneasel, nounetching, nounexecute, verbexecution, nounfauvism, nounfigure, nounfix, verbfixative, nounframe, verbfreehand, adjectivefresco, nounfull face, adjectivegallery, nounglaze, noungouache, nounhalf-length, adjectivehatching, nounhighlight, nounhue, nounicon, nounillustration, nounillustrator, nounimpressionism, nounimpressionist, nounlettering, nounlife, nounline drawing, nounlithograph, nounlithography, nounminiature, nounminiaturist, nounmural, nounoil paint, nounoil painting, nounold master, nounpaintbox, nounpaintbrush, nounpainter, nounpainterly, adjectivepainting, nounpalette, nounpalette knife, nounpanel, nounpastel, nounpastel, adjectivepencil, nounperspective, nounpictogram, nounpigment, nounpointillism, nounportrait, nounportraiture, nounposter paint, nounprimitive, nounretouch, verbrice paper, nounseascape, nounself-portrait, nounshade, nounshade, verbshading, nounshow, verbsit, verbsitting, nounsketch, nounsketch, verbstencil, nounstencil, verbstill life, nounstipple, verbsubject, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivetempera, nountrace, verbtriptych, nounview, nounwall painting, nounwatercolour, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
She’s been commissioned to paint Jackson’s portrait.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
She’s been commissioned to paint Jackson’s portrait.· The picture gallery is full of treasures.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· Against the wall they saw a fine portrait of the young Dorian Gray, in all his wonderful youth and beauty.
· Himalayan Climber provides a comprehensive photographic portrait of his remarkable climbing career.· The slots cut out for the photographic portraits were arched.· Her photographic portraits, landscapes and scenes from everyday life are on show at Claire Burrus until the end of the month.· Years later one of his photographic portraits was purchased by the museum.
· As with all royal portraits, the choice of artist was approved by the monarch.· He also wrote a scholarly illustrated history of the Royal College's portraits.
NOUN· The recently restored interior contains furniture designed by William Kent, as well as a collection of Dutton family portraits.· The details add much to his family portrait.· Making family portraits and documenting weddings, she learned that photographers occupied a special place in the iconography of domesticity.· Then, taking the other tack, Stettinius injects his family portraits with a sense of the strange.
· The problem for a portrait painter is the incisiveness of your observation - how deeply you choose to look into your subject.· She was actually foreshortening, as skilled portrait painters do.· When this ended, he set himself up first as a portrait painter.· No less distinguished was his achievement as a portrait painter, his approach extending from the satirical to the deeply affectionate.· This is a problem a lot of young portrait painters have.
· Perhaps the gallery should add the exception Louisa's vital self portrait.
VERB· Now as then, Gielgud is acute, highly intelligent and concerned to help draw a full portrait.· Dunn talked about her work, and a nurse asked Dunn to draw a portrait of her two daughters.· These studies draw a quantitative portrait of ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, businessmen, trade union or party officials.· The other photos on this fantasy book cover are of the people who allowed me to draw portraits of their lives.· Not long ago I drew an affectionate portrait of my home town, Johannesburg, for Conde· By putting these ideas together, we've drawn a portrait of the perfect playground.· At our council meetings he always drew exquisite portraits of birds in the margins of the agenda paper.
· Mrs Zamzam looked up to the wall of the room where there hung a framed portrait of a young man and woman.· The furniture was old but tasteful, the walls hung with portraits.· Above her on the wall hung a portrait in the manner of Laszlo showing a woman in her forties.
· Sarah Stitt is possessed of the same huge eyes that she likes to paint in her huge-eyed portraits.· Bruch painted a psychological portrait of the obese that contrasted sharply with the image of the jolly fat person.· Frans Hals had painted portraits of girls who could only be described as plain, but something lively and piquant redeemed them.· In 1881 Stanford visited the artist in Paris, asking him to paint a portrait of his wife.· He is going to paint my portrait.· Bailey Doogan, for instance, the feminist painter who frequently paints unerring portraits of aging bodies, is an Etherton regular.· A figure drawing or painting is not a portrait, so an accurate facial likeness isn't essential.· The life-size painting is a traditional portrait that depicts Drinkwater in a three-piece suit holding his trademark cowboy hat.
· He was presented to the Governor, Lord Plunkett, who presented him with a portrait of himself.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1- Dropping the robe off her shoulders, Anne turned to a full-length mirror.
- He put his handkerchief in his pocket, and looked into the full-length mirror on the back of the guest room door.
- If a full-length mirror rests on the floor with the top tilting away from you it can make you look taller.
- On a platform nearby, another man jumps rope before a full-length mirror while a fourth pounds a speed bag.
- She caught sight of her own reflection in the full-length mirror behind the wardrobe door and gave a disgusted snort.
- She grimaced a little as she caught sight of her own reflection in the full-length mirror.
- She stared at herself for some time in the full-length mirror of the attic bedroom.
- A thumbnail sketch of their functions and modes or organisation was also given.
- A very tightly written little thumbnail sketch.
- But written instructions in the blank spaces of books themselves do survive and so do tiny marginal thumbnail sketches to indicate subjects.
- This thumbnail sketch of a complicated web of negotiations says some unexpected things about Mr Major.
a painting, drawing, or photograph of a person: a family portraitportrait of the artist’s portrait of his mother She’s been commissioned to paint Jackson’s portrait.2a description or representation of somethingportrait of a portrait of working life in America → self-portraitportrait1 nounportrait2 adjective
portraitportrait2 adjective if a piece of paper, a page, a photograph etc is in a portrait position, it is placed on a surface or hung on a wall with its longer edges at the sides OPP landscape