Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The blurring or softening of sharp outlines in painting by subtle and gradual blending of one tone into another.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In painting, smoked: noting a style of painting wherein the tints are so blended that outlines are scarcely perceptible, the effect of the whole being indistinct or misty.
Wiktionary
- n. In painting, the application of subtle layers of translucent paint so that there is no visible transition between colors, tones and often objects.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Paint.) Having vague outlines, and colors and shades so mingled as to give a misty appearance; -- said of a painting.
Etymologies
- Italian sfumato, 'shaded, toned down' (1909) (Wiktionary)
- Italian, from past participle of sfumare, to evaporate, fade out : s-, from (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + fumare, to smoke (from Latin fūmāre; see fumatory). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“In particular, he developed a theory and practice revolving around the representation of shadows, called sfumato .”
The Wall Street Journal: Leonardo's Optics in Action, in Paint
“It is like a picture, or a succession of pictures, painted in what the Italians call the sfumato, or “smoky” manner.”
“But, despite sharing admiration for the grand master, art historians cannot yet agree on how exactly Leonardo managed to generate this effect referred to as sfumato after the Italian "fumo" for smoke.”
“Vinci's brush strokes and a technique called sfumato, which he used to hide transitions between dark and light areas and to create realistic shading.”
“This technique is called sfumato (from the Italian for "foggy").”
“The technique, called "sfumato," allowed da Vinci to give outlines and contours a hazy quality and create an illusion of depth and shadow.”
The Washington Post: X-ray study unlocks some of the 'Mona Lisa' magic
“Actors seem to displace an image of mist — what the creative team calls "sfumato," after the Renaissance painting technique — as they move in front of it.”
“Looking at the first picture, the word "sfumato" comes to mind...”
“It's related to the concept of "sfumato," the smoky atmospherics made famous by Da Vinci in works like the Mona Lisa.”
“In this context, the great merit of De Donder was that he extracted the entropy production out of this "sfumato" when related it in a precise way to the pace of a chemical reaction, through the use of a new function that he was to call "affinity" .3”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘sfumato’.
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250 Further Spelling Words
Another compilation of spelling words suitable for intermediate to advanced spellers.
venturi, aesir, affenpinscher, rottweiler, amanuensis, balletomane, hansard, sangfroid, yukata, capriccio, cuisse, heriot and 237 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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#faveword
Words chosen as favorites for the Twitter hashtag #faveword.
autumnal, grotto, chiaroscuro, sfumato, homunculus, zing, zest, effervescent, bewitch, avuncular, susurrus, Styrofoam and 205 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 476 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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List Erine
cool mint antiseptic
shalom, cattywampus, bourgeoisie, aerophile, traverse, grotto, epicurean, ex cathedra, nautilus, epitaph, lathe, continuum and 753 more...
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NeoVolt's Words
schadenfreude, serendipity, idiosyncrasy, loess, caducous, vagary, schematic, steeple, licentious, tangential, verisimilitude, vernacular and 385 more...
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...another list...
I've no idea where I got this page full of words, but whatever it is, I want to find it again. May have duplicate words from other lists.
bicameral, aphelion, dirigible, parhelion, flocculus, vernier, corticate, oxalis, pandanus, calabash, plumbago, jonquil and 217 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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learning
A list of words whose meanings I am learning, either because a) I don't know the meaning b) I know the meaning, but could stand to better appreciate certain inflections or secondary meanings or c) ...
louche, educe, loam, cob, sclerotic, palliate, axial, syndicalist, ecumenical, sally, fatuous, parvenu and 1381 more...
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favorite words
sawbones, grackle, celadon, brio, loam, trull, mint, saliva, serape, frisson, impasto, reek and 547 more...
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5-0
Hecko, words! I’m so happy I’ve found you. I want to keep you all and never want to lose you again. I hope you like it here.
amscray, thistledown, tine, tinsel, pungent, snarl, wail, lanky, viscid, dawdle, luminous, stow and 2719 more...
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Art Terms
mannerism, nonrepresentational, pointillism, serigraph, alla prima, trompe l'oeil, assemblage, arabesque, polychromatic, naive art, lumina, impasto and 104 more...
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Words that make you go hmmmm...
Interesting words you probably won't hear in your day-to-day.
maxwell, mooncalf, quagga, glaikit, musquash, lingam, haruspex, qindarka, chthonic, ipomoea, azimuthal, valuta and 304 more...
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rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3251 more...
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Time Out New York
words looked up while copyediting for this magazine
tonsorial, nudnick, doyenne, lothario, ebon, compere, cloaca, carom, evince, jocosity, profligacy, favela and 110 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for sfumato.
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