: of, relating to, or being a rectangular document having the vertical dimension longer than the horizontal dimension
switching from landscape to portrait mode
compare landscape sense 3
Synonyms
Examples of portrait in a Sentence
Noun
The queen posed for her portrait.
The book presents a portrait of life in a small town.
Recent Examples on the Web
Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
See them → Metal detectorists find ancient portrait in Danish field.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024
Bit by bit, researchers will begin to piece together a portrait of the hominin, who died by a hot spring so many eons ago only to be unearthed and then cut into floor tile for someone’s home.
—Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2024
The 1932 portrait of Picasso’s mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $139.4 million in November 2023.
—Scott Reyburn, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
In a video, Hudson showed off a framed portrait of her and Fujikawa embracing and smiling at each other, as incense burn on the table in front of the photo.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 21 Apr. 2024
Even though the Plena doesn't have quite as many buttons and switches as other lenses, its controls are more than adequate for a lens that's tuned for portrait work.
—PCMAG, 20 Apr. 2024
But Thaddeus’ family, like any long-standing American family, give us portrait of a nation without the fife and drum—instead realistic, confusing, confused, heedless, halting, and quietly wild.
—John Kaag, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
From this familiar premise blooms a moving portrait of self-discovery and creativity complete with delectable dishes, haute couture, a painter from the past, and a famous bookstore sheltering eccentrics and poets.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2020
Yet for all the darkness, there’s a welcome and important dose of levity too, from a hilarious video of a beauty products fair by María Luisa Bemberg to Regina Vater’s playful, costumed self-portrait photographs.
—New York Times, 4 July 2018
Arneson sets the tone through a ceramic self-portrait head from 1973, wall-mounted near the entry.
—Leah Ollman, latimes.com, 3 July 2018
In portrait orientation, the left side of the bottom bar only has space for about three to four app icons.
—Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, 23 June 2018
And even though the demand for photographers in traditional media has declined, there’s still a high-demand for commercial and portrait photographers.
—Jenny Knizner, USA TODAY, 4 June 2018
Dorothea Tanning’s self-portrait Birthday (1942) shows her bare-breasted, standing with a small winged monster with her back to a house full of open doors.
—Thomas Hine, Philly.com, 12 Apr. 2018
The heads presage a self-portrait print from 1990, displayed nearby, as well as the soft fabric figurative sculptures that Bourgeois took up in the late ’90s.
—Roberta Smith, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2017
Portrait sessions for families whose memories were stolen by the wind.
—Southern Living, 1 May 2017
Noun
Harry Litman: How Trump’s trial will go well beyond the charges to paint a damning portrait of him.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024
See them → Metal detectorists find ancient portrait in Danish field.
—Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 22 Apr. 2024
Bit by bit, researchers will begin to piece together a portrait of the hominin, who died by a hot spring so many eons ago only to be unearthed and then cut into floor tile for someone’s home.
—Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 22 Apr. 2024
The 1932 portrait of Picasso’s mistress and muse, Marie-Thérèse Walter, sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $139.4 million in November 2023.
—Scott Reyburn, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
In a video, Hudson showed off a framed portrait of her and Fujikawa embracing and smiling at each other, as incense burn on the table in front of the photo.
—Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 21 Apr. 2024
Even though the Plena doesn't have quite as many buttons and switches as other lenses, its controls are more than adequate for a lens that's tuned for portrait work.
—PCMAG, 20 Apr. 2024
But Thaddeus’ family, like any long-standing American family, give us portrait of a nation without the fife and drum—instead realistic, confusing, confused, heedless, halting, and quietly wild.
—John Kaag, TIME, 19 Apr. 2024
From this familiar premise blooms a moving portrait of self-discovery and creativity complete with delectable dishes, haute couture, a painter from the past, and a famous bookstore sheltering eccentrics and poets.
—Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Adjective
The small park behind Tahrir Square has been divided by tents, one of which has become a steadily expanding portrait gallery with photographs of those who have been killed by the security forces.
—Alissa J. Rubin, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2020
Yet for all the darkness, there’s a welcome and important dose of levity too, from a hilarious video of a beauty products fair by María Luisa Bemberg to Regina Vater’s playful, costumed self-portrait photographs.
—New York Times, 4 July 2018
Arneson sets the tone through a ceramic self-portrait head from 1973, wall-mounted near the entry.
—Leah Ollman, latimes.com, 3 July 2018
In portrait orientation, the left side of the bottom bar only has space for about three to four app icons.
—Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, 23 June 2018
And even though the demand for photographers in traditional media has declined, there’s still a high-demand for commercial and portrait photographers.
—Jenny Knizner, USA TODAY, 4 June 2018
Dorothea Tanning’s self-portrait Birthday (1942) shows her bare-breasted, standing with a small winged monster with her back to a house full of open doors.
—Thomas Hine, Philly.com, 12 Apr. 2018
The heads presage a self-portrait print from 1990, displayed nearby, as well as the soft fabric figurative sculptures that Bourgeois took up in the late ’90s.
—Roberta Smith, New York Times, 27 Sep. 2017
Portrait sessions for families whose memories were stolen by the wind.
—Southern Living, 1 May 2017
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'portrait.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near portrait
Cite this Entry
“Portrait.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portrait. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
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