montage

1 of 2

noun

mon·​tage män-ˈtäzh 

mōⁿ(n)-

1

: the production of a rapid succession of images in a movie to illustrate an association of ideas

2

a

: a literary, musical, or artistic composite (see composite entry 2 sense 1) of juxtaposed more or less heterogeneous elements

b

: a composite picture made by combining several separate pictures

3

: a heterogeneous mixture : jumble

a montage of emotions/sounds/memories

a montage of sounds

montage

2 of 2

verb

montaged; montaging

transitive verb

: to combine into or depict in a montage

Synonyms of montage

Noun

• collage
• medley
• assortment
• jumble
• variety

Examples of montage in a Sentence

Noun

a photographer who often uses montage in her pictures

my memories of the childhood trip are a montage of the sights, smells, and sounds of India

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The 2015 sequel ends with an emotional sequence featuring Dom and Brian (Walker) driving side by side as the former narrates a montage about their relationship. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Aug. 2026

It’s presented as an impressionistic historical montage, of Black farmworkers and the land, with clips of Black history that include modern suburbs, and a woman—Z herself—who gazes out of a door into a sere expanse of land bordered by low mountains. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 19 Aug. 2026

Verb

The piece wraps four walls at Lisson gallery, where Akomfrah montages archival and new footage. — Hilton Als, New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2026

The show could have montaged its way to a shorter version of the sequence where Carol lugs heavy stone tiles from a home-building depot to her house and places them one by one over the grave site. — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 26 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French, "act of rising, act of moving things to a higher place, assembly of a mechanism from its components, editing of film shots to make a coherent whole," from monter "to climb, get up onto (a horse), move to a higher place, assemble from component parts, assemble (film shots) into a coherent whole" (going back to Old French, "to climb, get up onto a horse, set up") + -age — more at mount entry 2

Verb

derivative of montage entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1944, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for montage

• barrage
• collage
• corsage
• dressage
• garage
• massage
• mirage
• swaraj
• arbitrage
• camouflage
• entourage
• sabotage

Kids Definition

montage

noun

mon·​tage

män-ˈtäzh, 

mōn-

1

: an artistic composition made up of several different kinds of items (as strips of newspaper, pictures, bits of wood) arranged together

2

: a rapid succession of distinct scenes or images in a motion picture to illustrate associated ideas