Skip to main content
sculpture

sculpture

158 3.5
A three-dimensional work of art made by shaping materials like stone or metal
  • noun
  • /ˈskʌlpʧər/
translation icon : escultura
  • I visited a gallery to admire a stunning sculpture made of bronze and glass.
  • a cloth sculpture
  • African sculpture
  • wood sculpture

We've seen ice sculptures, we've seen arts of clay.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • It's one of the most priceless and most beautiful sculptures to have come from the artist's hand.

  • We'd like to arrange an exhibition of your sculptures.

  • If I got you an ice sculpture, would that be a good gift?

  • I once brought home a sculpture I was working on to show my dad.

  • Right now I am looking at a marble sculpture of a woman.

  • The grand prize was a lifesize sculpture of the winner, carved out of butter.

    Academic text (2011)
  • And this year's artists are creating everything from sculptures to poems to operas.

  • Art & Soul also hosted a traveling exhibition of African sculpture from the Art Institute's collections.

    Academic text (2011)
  • After a week of sanding, gluing, and nailing the sculpture, one half of the boat was finally complete.

    Academic text (2008)
  • It was filled with sculptures of predatory animals.

Compounds

A work of art made by shaping clay, like a figure or pot

An art object made by shaping glass into a form you can see and touch

kinetic sculpture
  • Specialized
6.5

A work of art that moves, often by wind or machine, to show changing shapes

A statue showing a naked person made as art

How Big

colossus
2 6.7
monument
160 3.4
statue
381 1.0
sculpture
158 3.5
figurine
37 5.3

Surface Forms

sculpture singular
sculptures plural

Morphology

sculpture = sculpt (transparent) = sculpt + ure

The noun is directly formed from the verb 'sculpt' with the noun-forming suffix '-ure', indicating the object or result of sculpting.

Etymology

Sculpture comes from the Latin verb sculpere, which means 'to carve' or 'to cut'. So a sculpture is a thing made by carving or shaping materials like stone, metal, or wood.