painterly

P3A1I1N1T1E1R1L1Y4

adjective

Characteristic of a painter or paintings.

Similar
aestheticestheticaesthetical
Opposite
linearplastic
OriginProto-Germanic *līką ← Proto-Indo-European *leyg- ← English painter →
UncommonScrabble 14
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Meanings

adjectivepainterly (comparative more painterly, superlative most painterly)

comparative more painterly · superlative most painterly

  1. Characteristic of a painter or paintings.

    She always shows and never tells. For some poets, such a concentration on the concrete may imply a loosening of language and of perception, or an immersion into raw emotion. Instead, Becker clothes the everyday in a spare, painterly clarity of perception.

    1982 August 28, Andrea Loewenstein, “Becker's Experience Talks Back”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 7, page 11
  2. Having clear brush-strokes.

Synonyms & antonyms

antonym(s) of “having clear brush-strokes”

Opposite
linearplastic

adjectivehaving qualities unique to the art of painting

Similar
aestheticestheticaesthetical
Also see
aestheticaestheticalestheticalpainterish

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchpeintor
  2. Middle Englishpeyntour
  3. Englishpainter
  4. Proto-Indo-European*leyg-
  5. Proto-Germanic*līką
  6. Englishpainterly

From painter + -ly.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Esperanto pentra
  • pentracharacteristic of a painter or paintings

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

interplay
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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