period piece

noun

: a work (as of literature, art, furniture, cinema, or music) whose special value lies in its evocation of a historical period

Examples of period piece in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The book also inspired Clueless, which is more of a time capsule of 1995 than a period piece. Lia Beck, EW.com, 25 June 2025 Adapting literary sources, Season 1’s films tended towards period pieces. John Hopewell, Variety, 18 June 2025 First and foremost, the movie is a period piece revisiting the horrors of the AIDS epidemic with actual horror, transforming HIV-positive patients into humans whose bodies gradually turn to marble, like X-Men crossed with the Greek antiquities wing at the Louvre. Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 19 May 2025 The setting is medieval—Taylor loved a period piece. Marina Harss, New Yorker, 13 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for period piece

Word History

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of period piece was in 1909

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Period piece.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/period%20piece. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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