: 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
Kriston Capps, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Eventually, the Curb cast and crew finally got David to say something after presenting him with an end-of-show gift: A giant goofy portrait signed by everyone who’d worked on the show.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2024
Inside this small restaurant, which seats about 25 people, there was reggae and dancehall music playing and several portraits of Bob Marley on the wall.
—Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
The family portraits in the set's side panels at the beginning of each episode are priceless.
—Tanner Stransky, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2024
Carr had to assemble her portrait of the young Candy from snippets, fragments, misremembered memories, and family shame.
—Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Alongside its companion portrait, of a woman in a white headscarf, the painting was likely fitted in a closed portrait box featuring scenes and symbols of love, devotion and grief — although the relationship between the two people is unclear, the context hints at a romantic connection.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
Their portraits are among the first things visitors see when landing at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
People clutch precious items — a book, a magazine, a photo, a gray felt cowboy hat — waiting for their two-minute turn with the Queen of Graceland, who sits at a table behind a poster-sized portrait of herself in younger days.
—Michael Callahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 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
The first gallery alone showcases a couple dozen works, including a salon-style hang of portraits by the likes of Édouard Vuillard, Thomas Eakins and Mary Cassatt.
—Kriston Capps, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
Eventually, the Curb cast and crew finally got David to say something after presenting him with an end-of-show gift: A giant goofy portrait signed by everyone who’d worked on the show.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 9 Apr. 2024
Inside this small restaurant, which seats about 25 people, there was reggae and dancehall music playing and several portraits of Bob Marley on the wall.
—Carlos Rico, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024
The family portraits in the set's side panels at the beginning of each episode are priceless.
—Tanner Stransky, EW.com, 8 Apr. 2024
Carr had to assemble her portrait of the young Candy from snippets, fragments, misremembered memories, and family shame.
—Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024
Alongside its companion portrait, of a woman in a white headscarf, the painting was likely fitted in a closed portrait box featuring scenes and symbols of love, devotion and grief — although the relationship between the two people is unclear, the context hints at a romantic connection.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN, 5 Apr. 2024
Their portraits are among the first things visitors see when landing at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
People clutch precious items — a book, a magazine, a photo, a gray felt cowboy hat — waiting for their two-minute turn with the Queen of Graceland, who sits at a table behind a poster-sized portrait of herself in younger days.
—Michael Callahan, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 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 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share