diorama

noun

di·​ora·​ma ˌdī-ə-ˈra-mə  -ˈrä- 

1

: a scenic representation in which a partly translucent painting is seen from a distance through an opening

2

a

: a scenic representation in which sculptured figures and lifelike details are displayed usually in miniature so as to blend indistinguishably with a realistic painted background

b

: a life-size exhibit (as of a wildlife specimen or scene) with realistic natural surroundings and a painted background

dioramic

ˌdī-ə-ˈra-mik 

-ˈrä-

adjective

Examples of diorama in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The 32-year-old French singer-producer Marylou Vanina Mayniel deconstructs trance music as if with a jeweler’s chisel, making delicate dioramas that call to mind ruins covered in snow. —Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 12 Dec. 2025

Kids who won a contest get to display their model train dioramas in the dining room. —Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 11 Dec. 2025

Many dishes arrive on diorama-like structures, completely composed of greenery that the pair pluck from their own garden. —Colin Wrenn, Denver Post, 4 Dec. 2025

Here, Myers and Freyne and the art team melded bits of a museum diorama with that same brutalist shape language to the building, and a whimsical, deeply artificial approach to dramatizing memory. —Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 29 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French, from dia- + -orama (as in panorama, from English)

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for diorama

• panorama
• trichogramma
• gamma
• grama
• gramma

Kids Definition

diorama

noun

di·​o·​rama

ˌdī-ə-ˈram-ə, 

-ˈräm-

: a scenic representation in which lifelike sculptured figures and surrounding details are realistically set against a painted background