sculptural

Word family

• sculpture
  nounB1
• sculpt
  verbB2
• sculptor
  nounB2
• sculpturally
  adverbC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/3

These four words all describe something that looks like a sculpture, but they are used in different contexts. Sculptural is the broadest — it can describe natural landscapes, architecture, fashion, or body features. Statuesque is almost always used for a person, especially a tall woman who stands still and looks dignified, like a marble statue in a museum. Chiselled is narrower still: it refers only to facial features (jawline, cheekbones) that are sharp and well-defined, as if cut from stone with a chisel. Sculpturesque is a rare, literary synonym of sculptural and can usually be replaced by it. Example: 'The model's chiselled jawline and statuesque frame gave her a sculptural presence on the runway.'

Common collocations

Etymology

Sculptural comes from the Latin noun sculptura, meaning 'a carving or engraved figure,' which itself comes from the verb sculpere ('to carve or cut from stone'). The word entered English through French in the early 1800s, formed by adding the adjective suffix -al to the noun sculpture. All three senses — describing something literally sculpted, something relating to the art of sculpture, and something merely sculpture-like — had developed by the mid-19th century.