portraitist

noun

por·​trait·​ist ˈpȯr-trə-tist How to pronounce portraitist (audio)
-ˌtrā-
: a maker of portraits

Examples of portraitist 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.
Ellmann the portraitist has now come in for a portrait of his own. Eric Bulson, The Atlantic, 16 June 2025 Portraits are about style and sparkle, so no portraitist could be a great artist, or so was the assumption during my days as a student. Brian T. Allen, National Review, 15 May 2025 Last year, a dumpster diver in Hudson, New York, stumbled upon an extraordinary find: An 18th-century pen-and-ink sketch by English portraitist George Romney was hidden amid the rubbish. Eli Wizevich, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Feb. 2025 But warmth and good feeling, Betancourt comes to discover, can flourish just as easily in bathhouses or under the piers, on iPhone screens or in the affectionate gaze of a nude portraitist. Jake Nevins, New York Times, 16 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for portraitist

Word History

Etymology

probably borrowed from French portraitiste, from portrait portrait entry 1 + -iste -ist entry 1

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of portraitist was in 1857

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Cite this Entry

“Portraitist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portraitist. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

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