Word
tableau
US/təˈbɫoʊ/
UK/tˈæbləʊ/
Definition
n. a frozen image or scene that looks like a painting. You use this to describe a moment where everyone stops moving to create a perfect picture.
n. a frozen scene or arrangement of people or objects that resembles a painting. Often used to describe a moment in a play or a formal portrait.
Examples
“The children formed a beautiful tableau of the family.”
“The director asked the actors to hold their final positions to create a dramatic tableau for the closing scene.”
“The photographer captured a tableau of the city's skyline at dawn, where the morning mist created a sense of stillness that felt almost like a painting.”
Examples
simple
“The children formed a beautiful tableau of the family.”
contextual
“The director asked the actors to hold their final positions to create a dramatic tableau for the closing scene.”
complex
“The photographer captured a tableau of the city's skyline at dawn, where the morning mist created a sense of stillness that felt almost like a painting.”
Real-World Examples
“The opening tableau resembles a murder scene: has death-stare Cynthia (Fernanda Zancopé) done away with her husband, Gilberto (Ernani Sanchez), who lies sprawled on the floor?” Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/tableau