Skip to main content
bold line

bold line

1 3.7
A strong clear line in drawing or painting that shows shape and makes parts stand out
  • noun
translation icon : línea gruesa
  • The artist used a bold line to outline the figure, making it stand out against the background.
  • draw a bold line

Examples

  • Kureishi separates with clear, bold lines: the hippies and the punks, the middle class and the working class, and suburbia and the city.

    Academic text (2014)
  • Let's just put a a bold line there of some kind.

  • And can you distinguish the bold line from the light line barely that the bold line is the mirror plane?

  • Ethiopian painters adapted those models, transforming patterns of shading or modeling into simple shapes, bands, and zigzags of flat color and bold line.

    Academic text (1998)
  • In graphic design, a bold line can add emphasis and help define distinct sections on the page.

  • The drawing featured multiple bold lines, creating a striking contrast with its softer colors.

Synonyms

brush stroke
vsbold line
7 3.3

A mark made by a brush in a painting

is a stronger, clearer outline used to define shapes and show emphasis

Antonyms

14 4.1

A very thin, barely visible line that appears in objects like glass

How Bold

thickness
4 2.7
bold line
1 3.7
fine line
55 5.1
hairline
14 4.1

Surface Forms

bold line singular
bold lines plural

Morphology

bold + line

The phrase is fully compositional: the adjective 'bold' modifies 'line', yielding a prominent or strong stroke, so the meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This adjective+noun pattern is common across languages and follows standard English morphology, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE.

Etymology

Bold line comes from the image of an artist drawing a heavy, confident mark: a thick line that makes a shape stand out. That's why it means 'a strong, clear outline'.