as in portrait
a vivid representation in words of someone or something
the author's meticulous portraiture of a small Midwestern town at the turn of the century
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Recent Examples of portraiture
The winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s prestigious portraiture competition paints a disturbing picture of America.
—
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2026
Outside the recording studio, McLemore built a distinguished reputation as a photographer, with work spanning entertainment, sports and editorial portraiture.
—Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 4 Feb. 2026
Outside the recording studio, McLemore was a longtime and successful photographer with work spanning decades and such genres as entertainment, sports and editorial portraiture.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2026
What’s interesting about this bit of dialogue — and about this purposefully meta portraiture as a whole — is not who’s saying the line, but who’s playing who’s saying the line.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portraiture
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 5 Feb. 2026
Outside the recording studio, McLemore built a distinguished reputation as a photographer, with work spanning entertainment, sports and editorial portraiture.
—Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 4 Feb. 2026
Outside the recording studio, McLemore was a longtime and successful photographer with work spanning decades and such genres as entertainment, sports and editorial portraiture.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 4 Feb. 2026
What’s interesting about this bit of dialogue — and about this purposefully meta portraiture as a whole — is not who’s saying the line, but who’s playing who’s saying the line.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 13 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for portraiture
Recent Examples of Synonyms for portraiture
Noun
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Even though Khamenei's father is dead, an account with his portrait was active on Thursday, mainly reposting messages from his son.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
14 Mar. 2026
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What emerges is a portrait of Stanton not as a paragon of feminism but as a deeply peculiar person—one whose combination of vision and hubris happened to change history.—
Moira Donegan,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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During the police investigation, San Francisco Sheriff's deputies were in the area and found a possible suspect matching the description about a few blocks away on Powell Street and detained the subject, police said.—
Carlos E. Castañeda,
CBS News,
7 Mar. 2026
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Nine bones carrying the full weight of a species description.—
Ryan Brennan,
Kansas City Star,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But his candid portrayal of challenges and tech goals on Thursday was far more measured in tone.—
Evelyn Cheng,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2026
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Sporting Robert Shaw’s distinctive fisherman’s cap, flinty and crooked grin, and swarthy mutton-chop sideburns, Gildart Jackson’s is an evocative portrayal of Robert Shaw.—
Christopher Smith,
Oc Register,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Phil Chan’s organization Final Bow for Yellowface has worked to end the practice of Yellowface in America’s most popular ballet, The Nutcracker, and bring authentic depictions of Asian culture to ballet stages.—
Chloe Angyal,
Time,
9 Mar. 2026
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The narrative has gained influence in technology circles for its depiction of incremental rather than sudden transformation.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
9 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Portraiture.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/portraiture. Accessed 15 Mar. 2026.
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