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pictorial

/pɪkˈtɔɹi.əl/adjective, noun

pictorial is spelled P-I-C-T-O-R-I-A-L: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, pictorial means “Of, relating to, composed of, or illustrated by pictures” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in pictorial?

Letters9: P-I-C-T-O-R-I-A-L
Syllables4 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is pictorial?

Pictorial appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce pictorial?

  • /pɪkˈtɔɹi.əl/

Pictorial has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-pictorial.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of pictorial

  • more pictorial comparative
  • most pictorial superlative
  • pictoral
  • pictorials plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does pictorial mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, relating to, composed of, or illustrated by pictures.

  2. 2

    Described or otherwise represented as if in a picture; graphic or vivid.

  3. 3

    Stylistically similar to a painting, especially following the conventions of pictorialism.

noun

  1. 1

    A newspaper or magazine with many pictures, or section thereof.

    Sunday Pictorial

  2. 2

    An article primarily featuring many photographs, or simply a collection of photographs.

    The budding starlet is featured in a pictorial in a glossy magazine next week.

  3. 3

    A stamp featuring a vignette of local scenery or culture.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Pictorial in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchgraphique (of, relating to, composed of, or illustrated by…), illustré (newspaper or magazine with many pictures)
Germanbildhaft (of, relating to, composed of, or illustrated by…), Illustrierte (newspaper or magazine with many pictures), piktorialistisch (similar to painting)
Spanishgráfico (of, relating to, composed of, or illustrated by…), pictórico (similar to painting)
Portuguesepictorial, pictórico (similar to painting)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does pictorial come from?

From Latin pictōrius (“of painting”) + -al, from pictor (“painter”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after pictorial