depict

Definitions

de- (down, fully) + pict (paint) = 'to paint out fully,' setting a whole scene before the eye (Latin depingere). The interesting leap: once you could 'paint' with words as well as pigment, depict came to mean describe or portray. You can depict a character in a novel with no paint at all.

Common Collocations

• 1.depict a scene描绘场景
• 2.depict a character刻画人物
• 3.accurately depict准确地描绘
• 4.vividly depict生动地刻画
• 5.depict as把……描绘成

Example Sentences

• 1.

  The mural depicts a battle from the city's history.

• 2.

  The novel depicts life in a small fishing village.

• 3.

  Critics said the film depicted the war too simply.

Easily Confused

depict vs describe — both can mean 'portray in words,' but depict suggests creating a vivid, picture-like representation (often in art, film, or detailed writing), while describe is the plain, general word for telling what something is like. Paintings and films depict; a witness describes.

Synonym Comparison