Ekphrasis
noun /ɛkˈfreɪsɪs/ — A vivid literary description of a work of visual art.
Definition
A rhetorical device in which a written work vividly describes — or imaginatively inhabits — a work of visual art. The poem or prose as an act of intense looking.
Beyond the definition
Ekphrasis is the ambition of language to become image — words trying to do what only paint can do. Keats on the Grecian urn; Auden on the Breughel painting of Icarus. It is the tribute one art form pays another when ordinary description isn't enough.
Origin & history
From Greek ekphrasis (description), from ek (out) + phrazein (to point out, explain). First used in Greek rhetoric as the vivid description of any scene; later narrowed to descriptions of artworks specifically.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn is perhaps the most celebrated ekphrasis in English poetry.
Her essay on the Vermeer painting was pure ekphrasis — the painting came alive in the reading.
He wrote an ekphrasis of his grandmother's photograph that made everyone who read it feel they had met her.
How to use it
This entry uses a noun. Follow the examples for articles and singular or plural forms; not every noun takes “a” or “an.”
Choose “Ekphrasis” when the meaning fits your context: A rhetorical device in which a written work vividly describes — or imaginatively inhabits — a work of visual art. The poem or prose as an act of intense looking.
Synonyms
art description, verbal painting, pictorialism
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Fictional scene
Restorer Working on Mosaic
A restorer sits at a desk with a magnifying glass, focusing on a tiny, intricate part of an ancient mosaic.
The restorer’s intense, devoted looking at the mosaic is an act of ekphrasis. By translating the visual language of the mosaic into focused, analytical attention, the restorer mirrors the process of imaginatively inhabiting and describing a work of art through scrutiny.
Image credit: Wordspun · AI-generated conceptual illustration
Questions about this word
What does "Ekphrasis" mean?
Ekphrasis is noun meaning: A vivid literary description of a work of visual art.. A rhetorical device in which a written work vividly describes — or imaginatively inhabits — a work of visual art. The poem or prose as an act of intense looking.
Where does the word "Ekphrasis" come from?
From Greek ekphrasis (description), from ek (out) + phrazein (to point out, explain). First used in Greek rhetoric as the vivid description of any scene; later narrowed to descriptions of artworks specifically.