painterly
adjective
paint·er·ly
ˈpān-tər-lē 
2
: suggestive or characteristic of a painting or of the art of painting
painterly photography
especially
: marked by an openness of form which is not linear and in which sharp outlines are lacking
painterly brushwork
painterliness
noun
Examples of painterly in a Sentence
He has a painterly eye.
a painterly picture of the sea
Recent Examples on the Web
Adding to the mystique is a painterly palette of primary colors.
—
Daron James, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
The film’s cinematography, rendered in painterly frames by Polish DP Piotr Niemyjski, deliberately evokes the aesthetic of Japan’s post-war greats, names like Ozu and Naruse, whom Ishiguro has specifically cited as an influence on his writing about the period.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025
Mary McCartney, meanwhile, brings a quieter intimacy with portraits that blend celebrity with a painterly softness, while Julia Fullerton-Batten stuns with a visceral, theatrical tableau of Victorian women boxing—an image that punches through the noise with feminist force and visual drama.
—Lee Sharrock, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
The harshness of this world, conjured by Laxe with his signature painterly vision, feels a lot like our own.
—Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for painterly
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Daron James, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2025
The film’s cinematography, rendered in painterly frames by Polish DP Piotr Niemyjski, deliberately evokes the aesthetic of Japan’s post-war greats, names like Ozu and Naruse, whom Ishiguro has specifically cited as an influence on his writing about the period.
—Patrick Brzeski, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025
Mary McCartney, meanwhile, brings a quieter intimacy with portraits that blend celebrity with a painterly softness, while Julia Fullerton-Batten stuns with a visceral, theatrical tableau of Victorian women boxing—an image that punches through the noise with feminist force and visual drama.
—Lee Sharrock, Forbes.com, 16 May 2025
The harshness of this world, conjured by Laxe with his signature painterly vision, feels a lot like our own.
—Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for painterly
Cite this Entry
“Painterly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/painterly. Accessed 9 Jun. 2025.
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