paint-by-numbers style
- noun
:
estilo de pintura por números
- The director's latest film was criticized for its paint-by-numbers style and lack of innovation.
Examples
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Many pop songs today are written in a paint-by-numbers style to appeal to the widest audience.
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He wanted to break free from the paint-by-numbers style he had used early in his writing career.
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I find the paint-by-numbers style of art quite limiting.
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Using a paint-by-numbers style can stifle creativity.
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The artist felt constrained by the paint-by-numbers style and yearned for more freedom in her work.
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Critics often dismiss movies that follow a paint-by-numbers style due to their predictable plots.
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When designing his home, he avoided a paint-by-numbers style to create a unique and personal space.
Synonyms
8
4.8
To do something in a careful, exact way that follows set rules
A simple painting kit with numbered areas to fill with set colors, or a predictable way of doing something
Antonyms
How Original
Surface Forms
Morphology
paint-by-numbers + style
The phrase evokes the idea of following a numbered, prescribed painting pattern, so there is a metaphorical link between the literal constituents and the idiomatic sense of a formulaic method. However, the specific evaluative meaning ('rigid, unoriginal') depends on cultural knowledge of paint-by-numbers kits and a figurative extension, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not reliably infer the full meaning.
Etymology
Paint-by-numbers style comes from hobby painting kits where each area of a picture is marked with a number and you add the matching paint, so you only follow the guide. Because you just follow the numbers with little choice, the phrase means 'a fixed way that leaves little room for imagination'.