Meaning & use
sculpt
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To make a figure or object by carving stone or wood, or by shaping clay or similar material.
Grammar: Takes an object or stands alone: she sculpts animals, he sculpts for a living.
Patterns
- sculpt something from something
- sculpt something out of something
She sculpted a horse from a block of marble.
The artist sculpts with clay and plaster.
He sculpted a small bird out of soap.
verbtransitivefigurative
To shape something carefully into a desired form, such as the body or a landscape.
Grammar: Takes an object: sculpt your abs, sculpt the hair.
Patterns
- sculpt something into something
The gym class promises to sculpt your arms.
Wind and water have sculpted the cliffs over centuries.
The stylist sculpted her hair into a smooth wave.
Word forms
| third person singular | sculpts |
|---|---|
| past tense | sculpted |
| past participle | sculpted |
| -ing form | sculpting |
Common combinations
- sculpt from marble
- He sculpted the figure from marble.
- sculpt in clay
- The children sculpted animals in clay.
- sculpt a statue
- She spent a year sculpting a statue of her grandfather.
- sculpt the body
- The program claims to sculpt the body in six weeks.
- sculpted by wind
- The rocks were sculpted by wind and sand.
Synonyms and how they differ
- carve
- Carve means cutting away material, while sculpt can also include building up shapes in clay.
- mold
- Mold means shaping soft material by hand or with a form, and is less artistic than sculpt.
- shape
- Shape is general and has no artistic sense, while sculpt suggests careful, skilled forming.
- chisel
- Chisel names the specific tool action of cutting stone, while sculpt names the whole art.
Opposites
Word family
- sculptor noun
- a person who makes sculptures
- sculpture noun
- a work of art made by sculpting
- sculptural adjective
- like a sculpture in form
- sculpted adjective
- having a well-defined shape
Commonly confused: sculpt or sculpture?
sculpt vs sculpture
Sculpture is the artwork or the art form; sculpt is the verb for making it.
Practice
The artist plans to ____ a lion out of a block of stone.
Choose one answer.
Sculpt means to make a figure from stone or clay. Sketch means to draw quickly, so it would not fit stone.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sculpt”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.