odalisque
noun
oda·lisque
ˈō-də-ˌlisk 
plural odalisques
1
: an enslaved woman
2
: a concubine in a harem
Examples of odalisque in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Mickalene Thomas gets a whole room for her paintings of Black odalisques, and Derrick Adams gets an entire wall of his male nudes.
—
Sarah Douglas, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2024
In art history, the odalisque is a female figure in repose, her body splayed out for the viewer’s eye to devour.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2024
These women, usually sitting or lying, provide the base for each chaise longue’s form—turning the image of an odalisque into the furniture itself.
—Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 30 Nov. 2022
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Nov. 19 through March 12 In a Joan Brown painting, a cat might sit pensively in the middle of a Kool-Aid-colored landscape and a woman with the body of a tiger might take the pose of an Ingres odalisque.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2022
One of our first glimpses of the young performer, played by Austin Butler, is from behind, draped against some flotsam at a carnival like a country-boy odalisque, his beauty evident even from the partial view.
—Vulture, 24 June 2022
Each includes a reclining odalisque, two seated women around a hookah, and a female Black servant.
—Lance Esplund, WSJ, 2 July 2021
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Sarah Douglas, ARTnews.com, 16 Oct. 2024
In art history, the odalisque is a female figure in repose, her body splayed out for the viewer’s eye to devour.
—Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 23 Apr. 2024
These women, usually sitting or lying, provide the base for each chaise longue’s form—turning the image of an odalisque into the furniture itself.
—Camille Okhio, ELLE Decor, 30 Nov. 2022
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Nov. 19 through March 12 In a Joan Brown painting, a cat might sit pensively in the middle of a Kool-Aid-colored landscape and a woman with the body of a tiger might take the pose of an Ingres odalisque.
—Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2022
One of our first glimpses of the young performer, played by Austin Butler, is from behind, draped against some flotsam at a carnival like a country-boy odalisque, his beauty evident even from the partial view.
—Vulture, 24 June 2022
Each includes a reclining odalisque, two seated women around a hookah, and a female Black servant.
—Lance Esplund, WSJ, 2 July 2021
Cite this Entry
“Odalisque.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/odalisque. Accessed 5 Oct. 2025.
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