ekphrasis

or ec·phra·sis

[ ek-fruh-sis ]

noun

, plural ek·phra·ses, ec·phra·ses [ek, -fr, uh, -seez]

1. a literary device consisting of a vivid, detailed description of a visual work of art:

   John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a classic example of ekphrasis.

Other Words From

• ek·phras·tic ec·phras·tic [ek-, fras, -tik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of ekphrasis¹

First recorded in 1630–40; from Greek: “description,” from ekphrá(zein) “to describe” (from ek- ec- ( def ) + phrázein “to speak”) + -sis -sis ( def ); phrase ( def )

Example Sentences

It succeeds, too, in rising beyond a specific ekphrasis to a wider meditation on the exchange between a work of art and its context.

From Washington Post

Most of Schwartz’s protagonists are artists — poets, painters, novelists, actresses — and, fittingly then, many of the novel’s most elegant moments consist of ekphrasis, the representation of a work of art within another artwork.

From Washington Post

The Reger was a marvelous example of musical ekphrasis — i.e., poetry about art.

From Washington Post

We must do what is sometimes called “ekphrasis,” a thorough elaboration of both what we are seeing and what we imagine must have taken place, filling in details, adding meaning, making connections.

From Washington Post

The performance was a kind of call and response, or ekphrasis, with lyrics and chords inspired by Lethem's prose.

From Los Angeles Times