mood board

noun

variants or less commonly moodboard

ˈmüd-ˌbȯrd 

plural mood boards also moodboards

: a collection of objects, images, etc. that is assembled often on a flat surface and used as inspiration for something (such as a design or goal)

Anna Sui treats her mood boards a bit like shrines. A focal point in her new studio …, four separate panels, each bordered in a trompe l'oeil Art Nouveau frame, set off photographs, fabric swatches and illustrations by Mary Blair …

—Ruth La Ferla

Oftentimes clients give him a lot of creative freedom, he said, because they like the style of other projects he has done. He will then create a mood board, with images and phrases to inspire his creation.

—Rachel Spacek

The producer came to London to my house to have a meeting with me. They brought me the script and this strange kind of moodboard with pictures and drawings …

—Noomi Rapace, quoted at yahoo.com

Examples of mood board in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

From venue visits to sharing hints on her bridal mood board, followers have been eating up the content. —Tabitha Parent, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025

Consider it, then, a prime mood board for styling the season’s new crop of moto pieces. —Christian Allaire, Vogue, 4 Aug. 2025

The looks Hathaway, Meryl Streep, and other actors from the film's cast have been spotted wearing are being added to our mood boards, with each new photo sparking a wave of wardrobe possibilities. —Tatiana Ojea, Glamour, 26 July 2025

The site offers 30 different mood boards, each with a distinct theme and color palette, so there’s something for just about every style, from grandmillennial blues and whites to handsome plaids and leather accents. —Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 19 July 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1985, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mood board

• abhorred
• aboard
• accord
• adored
• afford
• award
• baseboard
• billboard
• blackboard
• boxboard
• breadboard
• broadsword