Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A vivid or graphic description: The movie was a tableau of a soldier's life.
- n. A striking incidental scene, as of a picturesque group of people: "New public figures suddenly abound in the hitherto faceless totalitarian tableaux” ( John McLaughlin).
- n. An interlude during a scene when all the performers on stage freeze in position and then resume action as before.
- n. A tableau vivant.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A picture, or a picturesque presentation; specifically, in English use, a picturesque grouping of persons and objects, or of either alone; a living picture. See tableau vivant, below.
- n. In French law, a table or schedule; a showing; a list; a statement.
Wiktionary
- n. A striking and vivid representation; a picture.
- n. A vivid graphic scene of a group of people arranged as in a painting.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A striking and vivid representation; a picture.
- n. A representation of some scene by means of persons grouped in the proper manner, placed in appropriate postures, and remaining silent and motionless.
- n. (Solitaire) The arrangement, or layout, of cards.
WordNet 3.0
- n. any dramatic scene
- n. a group of people attractively arranged (as if in a painting)
Etymologies
- From French tableau, from Old French tablel ("a surface which is used primarily for painting"). (Wiktionary)
- French, from Old French tablel, diminutive of table, surface prepared for painting; see table. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The most impressive tableau is the pop-up of a large Mos Eisley spaceport where our heroes Luke and Obi-Wan first met Han and Chewie.”
“The whole tableau is a high school nightmare come to life.”
“The killings of the crew men were enacted in tableau fashion.”
Spoleto Festival U.S.A.: Slave Trade in Charleston, This Time on Stage - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com
“The last tableau is of the iconic group looking down on Switzerland.”
“Eight hours 'work coverts a lump of inert snow into a classic tableau from the Simpsons.”
“This sculptured tableau is divided horizontally by the river Orontes, represented by the zigzag lines.”
“It would have puzzled him to stand in tableau for the Earl of”
“This is a comeback and a personal project, and from the very opening frame - a gorgeous opening-title tableau - I could see Coppola straining very hard to make it count," writes Glenn Kenny.”
“Above them hung a huge banner that read ADVANCING IN UNITY TOWARDS 2012, but everything about the tableau was artifice.”
“Again, the tableau was the same: the nominee's wife and two children were right there with him.”
Bella DePaulo: Is Harriet Miers a Comma? Anita Hill Thinks Not
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘tableau’.
-
Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
-
Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
-
Film
jidaigeki, samurai, Kurosawa, action, comedy, drama, Bergman, Buñuel, surreal, rotoscope, melodrama, Cinerama and 333 more...
-
Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
-
Not 250 Spelling Words Again
Yet more spelling words for intermediate to advanced spellers.
ihi, kyoodle, heimin, feis, menarche, cordwainer, gherao, zythum, accidie, anastomosis, boustrophedon, oleum and 238 more...
-
wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
Congregation
Clusters, gatherings, and groups of humans.
alliance, circle, council, federation, fraternity, league, assembly, company, group, flock, crowd, mob and 99 more...
-
good ones
grumble, fumble, bumble, stumble, crumble, mumble, jumble, humble, bramble, scramble, amble, ramble and 191 more...
-
vmarinelli's Words
canard, gumption, inexorable, insouciance, inviolable, mordant, euphonious, sawbuck, carpe diem, pay dirt, adipocere, profligate and 496 more...
-
ADW2
nudnik, temper, intercalate, cleave, scowl, chapfallen, malapropos, disport, annals, paean, paradisiacal, whet and 362 more...
-
...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...
-
lanklenmot's Words
ineluctable, prelapsarian, bien pensant, prospero, preternatural, gratifying, iconoclast, cineast, persnickety, tumescent, galvanize, pap and 887 more...
-
Thomas's Words
argus-eyed, chasmophile, extirpate, aperitif, outre, repartee, schadenfreude, insouciant, joie de vivre, callipygian, cavil, ad hominem and 147 more...
-
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...
-
researchgirl's Words
palpable, vade mecum, penumbra, ephemera, esoteric, quirky, quintessential, aphorism, amnesia, insomnia, synesthesia, apostasy and 186 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for tableau.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.