vignette

/vɪnˈjɛt/

vignette noun: a running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.

Image: Agusutus Pugin, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

vignette (plural vignettes)

A running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
A decorative design, originally representing vine branches or tendrils, at the head of a chapter, of a manuscript or printed book, or in a similar position.
- The centrality of this particular trope can been seen in the vignette adorning the opening page of Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert's Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonnée des sciences, des arts et des métiers (1751–1752).2011, William Burgwinkle, Nicholas Hammond, Emma Wilson, The Cambridge History of French Literature, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 420
(broadly) Any small borderless picture in a book, especially an engraving, photograph, or the like, which vanishes gradually at the edge.
(broadly) A short story or anecdote that presents a scene or tableau, or paints a picture.
- A particular classroom incident, and the vignette I used to portray it, had a significant impact on the interpretative framework for my research into scientific literacy.2007, Peter Charles Taylor, John Wallace, Contemporary Qualitative Research, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 126
- I have two favourite vignettes from the voting lobbies on Wednesday night. The first is the news that one minister told the Tory chief whip, Julian Smith: “You don’t know what you’re doing,” to which Smith replied, “I do know what I’m doing”.2019 March 1, Marina Hyde, “Chris Grayling is the Berk du Soleil as Farage maps out a road to nowhere”, in The Guardian
Synonyms:

account, anecdote, depiction, portrayal, representation
The central pictorial image on a postage stamp.
- At the top of the stamp and centered slightly to the right is the wording, “U. S. Postage,” in white Gothic. Below the vignette are the words, “Little White House,” in quotations, with “Warm Springs,” centered directly below in dark Gothic, […]1967, Postage Stamps of the United States, U.S. Government Printing Office
The characteristic of a camera lens, either by deficiency in design or by mismatch of the lens with the film format, that produces an image smaller than the film's frame with a crudely focused border. Photographers may deliberately choose this characteristic for a special effect.
Any effect in a photographic picture where qualities vanish towards the edges.
- Liz Brent, broker at Go Brent in Maryland and Washington, DC, said she’s spent the past few months changing how she presents properties by emphasizing photographs, 3-D tours, and video vignettes for homes online.2020 June 12, Anna Bahney, “The new rules of buying and selling a house in a coronavirus world”, in CNN Business
A hardware deficiency (even occurring in most expensive models) of a computer display wherein the picture slants towards a colour or brightness towards the edges especially if viewed from an angle.
A small sticker affixed to a vehicle windscreen to indicate that tolls have been paid.
- In order to drive on Bulgarian roads outside Sofia you'll need to purchase a vignette which must be displayed in the windscreen.2008, Sofia In Your Pocket, In Your Pocket, →ISBN, page 7

Verb

vignette (third-person singular simple present vignettes, present participle vignetting, simple past and past participle vignetted)

To make, as an engraving or a photograph, with a border or edge gradually fading away.
- Long minutes afterwards the sun disclosed itself, high above the earth's rim, over a vignetted bank of edgeless mist.1922, T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Book Five, Chapter 68
- Along the wainscot lie heaps of bolsters and quilts, covered with old-fashioned chintzes. Before the War these chintzes were specially made in Russia for the Central Asian market: one bolster depicts steamships, early motor-cars, and the first aeroplane, vignetted in circles of flowers on a...1937, Robert Byron, “Saoma”, in The Road to Oxiana

vignette meaning in Tamil and Urdu

vignette in Tamil

ஓர் அலங்காரக் குறி, நிறம்குன்றுகை, நிறச்சரிவு, தபாற்தலைச் சித்திரம், குறும்விளக்கம், சிறு நிகழ்வு

vignette in Urdu

چھوٹی تصویری سرخی, گل کاری

Examples of vignette in a sentence

“This is a truly shameful vignette of almost superhuman undergraduate arrogance, toffishness and twittishness,” admits Johnson.
It's a sampler of varied moods, functions, and materials—spare vignettes forming a harmonious whole.
A bit of everything this week - x-file, slash, MSR, humor, vignettes and Spenderfic!

All 22 example sentences with vignette

Synonyms of vignette

All synonyms of vignette

Forms of vignette

Noun
plural	vignettes
Verb
third-person singular present	vignettes
present participle	vignetting
past participle	vignetted
past	vignetted

Plural of vignette: vignettes

Origin of vignette

First attested in 1751. From French vignette, diminutive of vigne (“vine”), from Latin vīnea, from vīnum (“wine”). Replaced earlier Middle English vynet.

Words formed from vignette

Words that rhyme with vignette

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about vignette

What does vignette mean?: Vignette means a running ornament consisting of leaves and tendrils, used in Gothic architecture.
What is vignette in Tamil?: Vignette in Tamil is ஓர் அலங்காரக் குறி, நிறம்குன்றுகை, நிறச்சரிவு. See Vignette meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is vignette?: Vignette can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce vignette?: Vignette is pronounced /vɪnˈjɛt/.
What is the plural of vignette?: The plural of vignette is vignettes.

Words near vignette in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: vignette (page history and authors); vignette (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); vignette (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-vignette.ogg, en-au-vignette.ogg.

Cite this entry: “vignette.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vignette. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.