picturesque

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“
We might accomplish the benevolence, but it would be of a more public character: the picturesque is a thing of which we hardly know the meaning; and as for the originality, the dread of doing anything different from his neighbour would effectually prevent an American from erecting such a shelter; even charity with us being subject to the control of the general voice.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Of, suggesting, or suitable for a picture: picturesque rocky shores.
  2. adjective Striking or interesting in an unusual way; irregularly or quaintly attractive: a picturesque French café.
  3. adjective Strikingly expressive or vivid: picturesque language.

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Examples

  • We might accomplish the benevolence, but it would be of a more public character: the picturesque is a thing of which we hardly know the meaning; and as for the originality, the dread of doing anything different from his neighbour would effectually prevent an American from erecting such a shelter; even charity with us being subject to the control of the general voice. —  Recollections of Europe
  • A dash of the picturesque was added to the scene by the Algerian ration-bearers winding their way in and out of the wagons, carrying trays of hot food on their heads and shoulders. —  S.O.S. Stand to!
  • Why, the very heart of the picturesque is here. —  The Astonishing History of Troy Town
  • Even at the very worst of times, even when the picturesque was anathema in the eyes of all Persons of Taste, the forest still preserved a certain reputation for beauty. —  Essays of Travel
  • I am afraid the conventional idea of the picturesque is associated with such misery and degradation that a new picturesque will have to be established as the world goes onward. —  The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete
 

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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Alteration of French pittoresque, from Italian pittoresco, from pittore, painter, from Latin pictor; see Pictor.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. = French pittoresque, from It.pittoresco (= Sp.pintoresco = Portuguese pittoresco, pinturesco), from pittura, a picture, painting: see picture.
 

Pronunciations
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/pɪktʃəˈrɛsk/
by American Heritage

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