Picturesque Meaning
/ˌpɪkt͡ʃəˈɹɛsk/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjResembling or worthy of a picture or painting; having the qualities of a picture or painting; pleasingly beautiful.
adjStrikingly graphic or vivid; having striking and vivid imagery.
Sentence Examples
Naples is a picturesque city.
They stood against the picturesque scenery.
The villages in the Alps are very picturesque.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small village with its gardens is a ____ spot for tourists.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The village was so ____ that it had been used as a backdrop for several period films.
Word Origin & History
From picture + -esque, a calque of French pittoresque, from picture (“a picture, painting”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"A two minutes' walk brought Warwick—the name he had registered under, and as we shall call him—to the market-house, the central feature of Patesville, from both the commercial and the picturesque points of view."
— 1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, “A Stranger from South Carolina”, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 3:
"A dear old lady said she thought the ancient castle at Conway most picturesque, but that it was a pity they put it so close to the railway!"
— 1946 March and April, R. A. H. Weight, “Euston to the North-West”, in Railway Magazine, page 71:
"The Australian teens, both from Melbourne, were enjoying a backpacking trip when they became ill after a night out in Vang Vieng.
The picturesque rural town in northern Laos has long been a popular backpacking spot."
— 2024 November 21, Helen Regan' Isaac Yee, Eve Brennan, “Australian teens among six tourists dead as countries warn of suspected methanol poisonings in Laos”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2024:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The small village with its gardens is a ____ spot for tourists.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The village was so ____ that it had been used as a backdrop for several period films.