depiction

noun

de·​pic·​tion di-ˈpik-shən 

dē-

plural depictions

: a representation in words or images of someone or something

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

The first part of the book … is a depiction of the nearly lost world of a North American hunter-gatherer community.

—Timothy Egan

The late Vermont artist Stephen Huneck made works that are instantly recognizable—bright, accessible, folky depictions of dogs enjoying themselves.

—James Heflin

By comparison with the depiction of domesticity in such 1950s staples as The Donna Reed Show and Ozzie and Harriet, the portrait of family life on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the emblematic sitcom of the early 1960s, seemed staggering in its sheer smartness and casual elegance.

—Bruce Bawer

Synonyms

• definition
• delineation
• description
• picture
• portrait
• portraiture
• portrayal
• rendering
• sketch
• vignette

Examples of depiction in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And while there is romance and drama, this series is also a powerful depiction of the power of female friendship. —Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 7 Apr. 2024

Released in a France still reeling from President Charles de Gaulle (see The Day of the Jackal above), Army of Shadows was thought to be an unfashionably laudatory depiction of the Resistance’s violent methods. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024

Last May, two years after issuing an apology for her depiction of autism in the 2020 film Music, Sia shared that had recently been diagnosed with autism. —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 5 Apr. 2024

As Tanner’s novel explores these topics, its depiction of Jules’s relationships also highlights absurdities of contemporary culture and the consequences of self-absorption. —The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

Johnson’s depictions of pixelated, upside-down (Tiffany Blue) men recall 8-bit videogame characters. —Andrew Russeth, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2024

The network comedy gained a following and remains beloved to this day for its depiction of the working-class family and for its curmudgeon sense of humor. —Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024

Examples included depictions of Nazi soldiers as Black and Asian and popes as female, for which the company apologized. —Khristopher J. Brooks, CBS News, 18 Mar. 2024

Through its complex depiction of a bloodthirsty mob, M explores the disturbingly violent tendencies inherent in human nature. —Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 27 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above