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Definitions

tableau

[ta-bloh, tab-loh] / tæˈbloʊ, ˈtæb loʊ /
NOUN
scene, often painted
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The modular couch is anchored on each side with Art-Deco influenced side tables, lamps and light blue slipper chairs he designed, setting up a cozy tableau for hosting his friends.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 26, 2026

The surrounding landscape—a moody tableau of steel-gray skies and jagged mountains—is the work of AI.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 26, 2026

This is the dismal tableau today in Venezuela’s Maracaibo Basin, which, for much of the last century, was one of the globe’s leading sources of petroleum.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 15, 2026

But as the company grew, marketing its locations as a tableau in which to “stay awhile” ultimately meant there was a finite number of people they could sell coffee to per day.

From Slate Dec. 22, 2025

We could not perceive the significance of this tableau.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

Anadol refers to these large-scale, shimmering tableaus as “digital sculptures.”

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 23, 2026

These tableaus take place against the backdrop of an increasingly militarized vision of Christmas that permeates American pop culture.

From Salon Dec. 24, 2025

The film is a loosely sketched drama told via visually impeccable tableaus and a few flights of well-staged fancy.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 15, 2025

Following the processions, the bonfire societies burned their tableaus and let off fireworks in their respective fields.

From BBC Nov. 5, 2024

Millet had planned an elaborate series of explosive “set pieces,” fireworks affixed to large metal frames shaped to depict various portraits and tableaus.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Think stark pastel tableaux by cinematographer Pasit Tandaechanurat and human performers who act about as energetically as furniture.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 4, 2026

Unlike military parades in many Western capitals, India's Republic Day also blends displays of its military capability with cultural performances and regional tableaux, projecting both power and diversity.

From BBC Jan. 24, 2026

Roth was more at home with these tableaux than in grandiose projects such as the San Remo and the Beresford.

From The Wall Street Journal Jan. 23, 2026

The author seems to trust that a coherent narrative will emerge, without the help of analytical threads, from a jumble of facts, tableaux, faces and innumerable quotes.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 16, 2025

“Behold, the astonishingly lifelike tableaux vivant of Leeds’ Thespians on Demand!”

From "The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place: Book I: The Mysterious Howling" by Maryrose Wood




Vocabulary lists containing tableau


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