Depict and Depiction

If you depict someone or something, you show what that person or thing is like—either in some kind of image (such as a drawing, painting, photograph, or movie), or with words.

What results from your efforts to depict that person or thing can be called a depiction. The noun depiction is included at this entry without a definition because its meaning can be easily understood from the definition of the verb—it's the act of, or an instance of, depicting something or someone—but some examples of depiction in a sentence might be helpful:

The depiction of the battle in the painting is not historically correct.

I think the novel is a good depiction of a typical modern American marriage.

Many were moved by the film's depictions of animals helping people.

The author's depiction of the practice as uncommon is problematic; it's done by millions of people throughout the world every day.

The essay is an honest depiction of life in the city.

The book is fascinating in its depiction of the country's early history.

Examples of depict in a Sentence

The wall was painted with a large mural depicting famous scenes from American history. Several of the architect's most famous buildings will soon be depicted on postage stamps. The photograph depicts the two brothers standing in front of a store. Angels are usually depicted with wings. In the drawing, the magic cap was depicted as a soft, black hat. The movie depicts the life of early settlers. I like the way she depicts the characters in her novels. See More

Recent Examples on the Web In early 2021, screenshots of messages from women began to surface on social media, appearing to depict Hammer as having cannibalistic fetishes. — Elizabeth Wagmeister, Variety, 6 July 2022 Written from the perspective of a scholar in visual rhetoric — a lesbian raising a toddler with her wife — the commentary calls out the photographer’s decision to depict her portrait subjects as solitary, contemplative, even mournful. — Melissa Hart, Longreads, 28 June 2022 Some fans pointed towards the comics, which often depict She-Hulk as more fit than muscular, especially in the character’s early years. — Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 18 May 2022 The trail ends at the Celebration Station, where visitors are supplied with tools to depict their experience on the trail through writing and drawing. — Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 19 Apr. 2022 The scenes will depict 19th century historical events in Ghost Towns. — Melanie Savage, Hartford Courant, 11 July 2022 Some images included in the Tuesday release will show how galaxies interact and grow, and others will depict the life cycle of stars, from the emergence of new ones to violent stellar deaths. — Denise Chow, NBC News, 10 July 2022 Meanwhile, flashbacks depict what happened in Susan and Edward's relationship, offering some unexpected parallels to Tony's plight. — Gwen Ihnat, EW.com, 13 June 2022 Metopes, which would have stood atop the temple columns, depict a battle of Centaurs and Lapiths. — Elizabeth Djinis, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 May 2022 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'depict.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.