semi-abstract

American  

[sem-ee-ab-strakt, -ab-strakt, sem-ahy-] / ˌsɛm iˈæb strækt, -æbˈstrækt, ˌsɛm aɪ- /

adjective

1. pertaining to or designating a style of painting or sculpture in which the subject remains recognizable although the forms are highly stylized in a manner derived from abstract art.

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Other Word Forms

• semi-abstraction noun

Etymology

Origin of semi-abstract

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

He specialised in semi-abstract bronze sculptures which were displayed in public places.

From BBC

The novel is an epic, but “Behind the South,” while inspired by the book, is largely a mix of ritual theater and semi-abstract dance sections.

From New York Times

But that price was the same as the record $3.6 million given in March for the British artist Flora Yukhnovich’s 2020 semi-abstract canvas “Warm, Wet ’N’ Wild,” inspired by another 18th-century French painting.

From New York Times

It evokes Constantin Brancusi’s 1908 “The Kiss,” a semi-abstract depiction of a nearly identical man and woman embracing eyeball to eyeball.

From Seattle Times

One early painting, the semi-abstract “Salazar Vomiting the Homeland,” excoriated the dictatorship and would have been impossible to display at the time in Portugal.

From Seattle Times