performance art

noun

: a nontraditional art form often with political or topical themes that typically features a live presentation to an audience or onlookers (as on a street) and draws on such arts as acting, poetry, music, dance, or painting
performance artist noun

Examples of performance art in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Morgan insists that buzzwords feel like corporate cosplay—a performance art in which people wear costumes and accessories to represent a specific character from various sources—to Gen Z and creates unnecessary barriers, especially in multicultural teams. Bryan Robinson, Forbes, 11 Jan. 2025 The terrorist group has dragooned its hostages, Jewish and not, into perverse performance art. Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic, 25 Feb. 2025 There’s a daring sleight of hand that verges on filmed performance art, Elisabeth’s psychological engulfment literalized as her fellow parents (really, the PTA from hell) descend upon her. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 5 Feb. 2025 While away from the spotlight, Moretti has founded a community of craftspeople who take pride in making things by hand, cracking oysters in search of pearls and immersing themselves in performance arts, while worshipping their messiah in human form. Tomris Laffly, Variety, 28 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for performance art

Word History

First Known Use

1971, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of performance art was in 1971

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Performance art.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/performance%20art. Accessed 18 Mar. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on performance art

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!