vignette

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noun vi·gnette \ vin-ˈyet , vēn- \

Definition of vignette

1 a :a picture (such as an engraving or photograph) that shades off gradually into the surrounding paper

b :the pictorial part of a postage stamp design as distinguished from the frame and lettering

2 a :a short descriptive literary sketch

b :a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie)

3 :a running ornament (as of vine leaves, tendrils, and grapes) put on or just before a title page or at the beginning or end of a chapter; also :a small decorative design or picture so placed

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vignettist

play \vin-ˈye-tist, vēn-\ noun

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vignette was our Word of the Day on 02/21/2016. Hear the podcast!

Examples of vignette in a Sentence

The play's program features a little vignette about each member of the cast.
The film is a series of vignettes about living with cancer.

Recent Examples of vignette from the Web

The cute vignette about the old Taylor having bit the dust is one example.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Who Killed Taylor Swift?," 25 Aug. 2017
The music and lyrics, by his husband, Ryan Scott Oliver, are performed as solo and ensemble numbers in more than a dozen individual vignettes.

— john monaghan, Detroit Free Press, "In '35MM,' every picture tells a story in song," 17 Aug. 2017
That production featured 10 vignettes with the tale of the young man and the lustful nuns as the plot of one.

— rick bentley, idahostatesman, "‘Little Hours’ shows nothing’s sacred," 13 July 2017
The novel’s drama unfolds in a series of short vignettes, each of which comes packed with larger-than-life characters, lurid thoughts and graphic deeds.

— The Economist, "The secrets of Indonesia’s finest novelist," 13 July 2017
Almost every vignette includes a song with original lyrics set to contemporary pop songs by Michael Jackson, Maroon 5, Beyonce and Taio Cruz.

— pam kragen, sandiegouniontribune.com, "One last dispatch from the Fringe: 8 shows close annual festival," 4 July 2017
The third film is more like a series of different vignettes more intent on introducing new characters than capitalizing on what made the first two movies work.

— rick bentley, charlotteobserver, "Movie review: Key elements missing from ‘Despicable Me 3’," 28 June 2017
Most remarkably, nearly all of the vignettes in the film bear fruit.

— pat padua, star-telegram.com, "Cate Blanchett delivers a stirring ‘Manifesto’," 19 June 2017
Lines like those show how Lorde excels at creating vignettes within songs, mini-moments that risk dampening a track’s propulsion but end up making the big picture more vivid.

— spencer kornhaber, The Atlantic, "Lorde Is Older But Somehow Less Jaded," 16 June 2017

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

The Connection Between vignette and Vines

Vignette comes from Middle French vignete, the diminutive form of the noun vigne, meaning "vine." In English, the word was first used in the mid-18th century for a design or illustration that ran along the blank border of a page, or one that marked the beginning or end of a chapter. Such designs got their name because they often looked like little vines. It wasn't until the late 19th century that usage of vignette had shifted to cover a brief literary sketch or narrative, as we commonly see it used today.