crayon
Americannoun
-
a pointed stick or pencil of colored clay, chalk, wax, etc., used for drawing or coloring.
-
a drawing in crayons.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
-
a small stick or pencil of charcoal, wax, clay, or chalk mixed with coloured pigment
-
a drawing made with crayons
verb
Other Word Forms
- crayonist noun
Etymology
Origin of crayon
1635–45; < French, equivalent to craie chalk (< Latin crēta clay, chalk) + -on noun suffix
Explanation
A crayon is a colorful stick of wax made for drawing and coloring. It’s also what you do with it. If a kid asks you to crayon with her, bring some paper and your imagination. Young artists often start with crayons, since they’re easy to deal with. Harold and the Purple Crayon is a book about a little boy who draws his own adventures with one purple crayon. But crayons come in hundreds of colors. While the history of drawing with colored wax dates back to ancient Egypt, the crayon we know today has been around — along with the word itself — since the 17th century. It comes from the French crayon, "pencil."
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.
As seen in the exhibition, his Conté crayon drawings from these months informed his paintings, which pointedly eschewed any hint of the picturesque and also of Impressionist painting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 28, 2026
Meanwhile, the 2025 novel “Unfit” by Ariana Harwicz, about a mother losing her children in a custody battle, uses erratic crayon scribbles on its cover.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 16, 2026
A loose 1878 crayon and ink-wash study for an illustration for Émile Zola’s “L’Assommoir” becomes a firmer, more detailed pen, ink and chalk version, made even more solid in the final reproduction.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
It’s so obvious, it’s practically unconscious — like being told to crayon a great painting and selecting the “Mona Lisa.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025
When it’s done, I stick the picture on the fridge next to the old crayon drawings of Dad, Gran, and the goldens.
From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
