painting
noun
Simple meaning
Graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
payntingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpeɪntɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The act of applying paint to a surface
“You can finish the job of painting faster with a roller than with a brush.”
Graphic art consisting of an artistic composition made by applying paints to a surface
uncountable
The action of applying paint to a surface.
countable
An illustration or artwork done with the use of paint.
uncountable
The same activity as an art form.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The act of applying paint to a surface
Used this way, painting is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
“You can finish the job of painting faster with a roller than with a brush.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use painting
- “He studied painting and sculpture for many years.”noun
- “You can finish the job of painting faster with a roller than with a brush.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A painting produced by spreading paint with the fingers.
A genre depicting everyday life.
The occupation of a house painter.
A genre of art dealing with the depiction of natural scenery.
A painting of a naked human figure.
A picture painted with oil paints.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Make a painting.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- painternoun
- paintedadjective
- paintverb
- watercolornoun
- nudenoun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.