depiction

noun

de·​pic·​tion di-ˈpik-shən 

dē-

plural depictions

: a representation in words or images of someone or something

The book is fascinating in its depiction of the country's early history.

The first part of the book … is a depiction of the nearly lost world of a North American hunter-gatherer community.

—Timothy Egan

The late Vermont artist Stephen Huneck made works that are instantly recognizable—bright, accessible, folky depictions of dogs enjoying themselves.

—James Heflin

By comparison with the depiction of domesticity in such 1950s staples as The Donna Reed Show and Ozzie and Harriet, the portrait of family life on The Dick Van Dyke Show, the emblematic sitcom of the early 1960s, seemed staggering in its sheer smartness and casual elegance.

—Bruce Bawer

Synonyms

• definition
• delineation
• description
• picture
• portrait
• portraiture
• portrayal
• rendering
• sketch
• vignette

Examples of depiction in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Last May, two years after issuing an apology for her depiction of autism in the 2020 film Music, Sia shared that had recently been diagnosed with autism. —Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 19 Apr. 2024

Media depictions in The Sixth Sense and Sharp Objects and real-life news coverage of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s December 2023 release from jail are hard to look away from. —Sarah Klein, TIME, 18 Apr. 2024

Browne’s letters also offer evocative depictions of 18th-century London. —Ella Feldman, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Apr. 2024

In Parks’s depiction, the woman who was exhibited like a zoo animal and exploited is not simply a victim but a woman in search of intimacy and a sense of self. —Imani Perry Janina Edwards Krish Seenivasan Devin Murphy, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2024

The headpiece is sentimental for its close association with the late Queen Elizabeth, who wore the sparkler many times throughout her record 70-year reign and is even included in her depiction on some British and Commonwealth banknotes and coins. —Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 9 Apr. 2024

When the first trailer for Alex Garland’s new movie, Civil War—a harrowing depiction of conflict between American states in the near future—was revealed, a wave of bafflement spread across the internet. —David Sims, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2024

And while there is romance and drama, this series is also a powerful depiction of the power of female friendship. —Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 7 Apr. 2024

Released in a France still reeling from President Charles de Gaulle (see The Day of the Jackal above), Army of Shadows was thought to be an unfashionably laudatory depiction of the Resistance’s violent methods. —Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above