picturesque
adj/ˌpɪkt͡ʃəˈɹɛsk/
Etymology From picture + -esque, a calque of French pittoresque, from picture (“a picture, painting”).
1
Resembling or worthy of a picture or painting; having the qualities of a picture or painting; pleasingly beautiful.
- We looked down onto a beautiful, picturesque sunset over the ocean.
- A two minutes' walk brought Warwick—the name he had registered under, and as we shall call him—to the market-house, the central feature of Patesville, from both the commercial and the picturesque points of view.1900, Charles W[addell] Chesnutt, “A Stranger from South Carolina”, in The House Behind the Cedars, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 3:
2 more examples
- A dear old lady said she thought the ancient castle at Conway most picturesque, but that it was a pity they put it so close to the railway!1946 March and April, R. A. H. Weight, “Euston to the North-West”, in Railway Magazine, page 71:
- The Australian teens, both from Melbourne, were enjoying a backpacking trip when they became ill after a night out in Vang Vieng. The picturesque rural town in northern Laos has long been a popular backpacking spot.2024 November 21, Helen Regan' Isaac Yee, Eve Brennan, “Australian teens among six tourists dead as countries warn of suspected methanol poisonings in Laos”, in CNN, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2024:
2
Broadly, Figuratively Strikingly graphic or vivid; having striking and vivid imagery.
- picturesque language
- Derived terms
- picturesquely, picturesqueness, picturesquish, unpicturesque