picturesque

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adjective pic·tur·esque \ ˌpik-chə-ˈresk \

Definition of picturesque

1 a :resembling a picture :suggesting a painted scene

b :charming or quaint in appearance

2 :evoking mental images :vivid

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picturesquely

adverb

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picturesqueness

noun

See picturesque defined for English-language learners

See picturesque defined for kids

Examples of picturesque in a Sentence

The view of the mountains was very picturesque.
wrote a picturesque tale of their journey across the country

Recent Examples of picturesque from the Web

One access point is between buildings, creating a picturesque alleyway courtyard.

— AL.com, "See what kinds of surprises you'll find if you walk down these Alabama alleys," 24 Aug. 2017
West River Farms is a new community of approximately 69 single-family homes situated in a picturesque country setting on the South Windsor line.

— courant.com, "West River Farms," 22 Aug. 2017
The town, which sits on the picturesque and palm-tree littered stretch of Devon coast that markets itself as the English Riviera, is a vibrant postcard vision of a fishing town.

— hannah george, Bloomberg.com, "Brexit Hopes Fade for Some Who Want It So Badly," 31 July 2017
Several decades after their contemporaries hung up their poles, four men ranging from the ages of 63 to 80 were launching themselves over the bungee-cord bar at a picturesque pole vault pit in the woods behind Booth’s home.

— bill khan, The Courier-Journal, "How do these seniors stay active? Pole vaulting, of course," 28 July 2017
NEAR the village of Affile, on a picturesque hillside east of Rome, stands a monument, unveiled in 2012 and built with public funds, to Rodolfo Graziani, one of Mussolini’s most brilliant generals.

— The Economist, "Italy and the Addis Ababa massacre," 20 July 2017
Diaphanous sheets of speck and pucks of fried trotters are piled onto picturesque salumi platters.

— garrett snyder, Los Angeles Magazine, "The Los Angeles Magazine Hot Restaurant List for July 2017," 18 July 2017
Last week, a picturesque Swiss landscape was interrupted by a grisly sight.

— kayla epstein, Washington Post, "Bodies found in a melting Swiss glacier might have been buried since 1942," 18 July 2017
The simple, jarring marketing strategy—parading characters from Hulu’s dystopian show The Handmaid’s Tale through picturesque L.A. locations—helped get the job done.

— vanityfair.com, "How The Handmaid’s Tale Finally Made Hulu an Emmy Contender," 14 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'picturesque.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of picturesque

French & Italian; French pittoresque, from Italian pittoresco, from pittore painter, from Latin pictor, from pingere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1703

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picturesque Synonyms

Synonyms

delineated, pictorial, graphic, visual, vivid

Related Words

depicted, descriptive, expressive; concrete, explicit, specific; faithful, lifelike, natural, photographic, realistic; fresh, incisive, sharp

Near Antonyms

indeterminate, nebulous, obscure, sketchy, unclear, vague; bleary, blurry, dark, dim, faint, foggy, fuzzy, hazy, indefinite, indistinct, indistinguishable, muddy, murky, shadowlike, shadowy; ambiguous, cryptic, dark, enigmatic (also enigmatical), equivocal, inscrutable, mysterious

Synonym Discussion of picturesque

graphic, vivid, picturesque mean giving a clear visual impression in words. graphic stresses the evoking of a clear lifelike picture.

- a graphic account of combat

vivid suggests an impressing on the mind of the vigorous aliveness of something.

- a vivid re-creation of an exciting event

picturesque suggests the presentation of a striking or effective picture composed of features notable for their distinctness and charm.

- a picturesque account of his travels

PICTURESQUE Defined for English Language Learners

picturesque

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adjective

Definition of picturesque for English Language Learners

: very pretty or charming : like a painted picture
: telling about something in a way that makes it very easy to imagine : causing someone to have a very clear mental picture of something