expressionism

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US/ɛksˈpɹɛˈʃən.ɪzm/

noun

A movement in the arts in which the artist did not depict objective reality, but rather a subjective expression of their inner experiences.

OriginFrench expressionnisme →
Less commonScrabble 24
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Meanings

nounexpressionism (countable and uncountable, plural expressionisms)

plural expressionisms

  1. countableuncountableA movement in the arts in which the artist did not depict objective reality, but rather a subjective expression of their inner experiences.
  2. countableuncountableA somewhat analogous genre in early 20th century music.

Origin

  1. Frenchexpressionnisme
  2. Englishexpressionism

Borrowed from French expressionnisme, equivalent to expression + -ism.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans ekspressionisme
  • ekspressionismemovement in the arts
Arabic تَعْبِيرِيَّة
  • تَعْبِيرِيَّة (taʕbīriyya)movement in the arts
Bulgarian експресиони́зъм
  • експресиони́зъм (ekspresionízăm)movement in the arts
Catalan expressionisme
  • expressionismemovement in the arts
Chinese Mandarin 表現主義 /表现主义, 表現主義 /表现主义
  • 表現主義 /表现主义 (biǎoxiànzhǔyì)movement in the arts
  • 表現主義 /表现主义 (biǎoxiànzhǔyì)genre in music
Dutch expressionisme, expressionisme
  • expressionismemovement in the arts
  • expressionismegenre in music
Finnish ekspressionismi, ekspressionismi
  • ekspressionismimovement in the arts
  • ekspressionismigenre in music
French expressionnisme
  • expressionnismemovement in the arts
German Expressionismus, Expressionismus
  • Expressionismusmovement in the arts
  • Expressionismusgenre in music
Hungarian expresszionizmus
  • expresszionizmusmovement in the arts
Icelandic expressjónismi
  • expressjónismimovement in the arts
Italian espressionismo
  • espressionismomovement in the arts
Japanese 表現主義, 表現主義音楽
  • 表現主義 (hyōgenshugi)movement in the arts
  • 表現主義音楽 (hyōgenshugi ongaku)genre in music
Māori toi pūkare, puoro pukare
  • toi pūkaremovement in the arts
  • puoro pukaregenre in music
Polish ekspresjonizm
  • ekspresjonizmmovement in the arts
Portuguese expressionismo
  • expressionismomovement in the arts
Romanian expresionism
  • expresionismmovement in the arts
Russian экспрессиони́зм, экспрессиони́зм
  • экспрессиони́зм (ekspressionízm)movement in the arts
  • экспрессиони́зм (ekspressionízm)genre in music
Spanish expresionismo
  • expresionismomovement in the arts
Swedish expressionism
  • expressionismmovement in the arts
Ukrainian експресіоні́зм
  • експресіоні́зм (ekspresionízm)movement in the arts

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

misexpression
Cite this entry
APA

expressionism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expressionism

MLA

“expressionism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expressionism. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “expressionism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/expressionism.

Source: expressionism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.