Meaning & use
three-dimensional
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Having length, width and height, so that it takes up space and can be seen or measured from every side.
Grammar: Usually comes before a noun: a three-dimensional object.
Patterns
- a three-dimensional shape
- a three-dimensional model of something
A cube is a three-dimensional shape, while a square is flat.
The architect built a three-dimensional model of the new library.
Children can hold three-dimensional blocks, which makes geometry easier to grasp.
adjectivecomparablefigurative
Seeming real and fully developed, with depth and believable detail, used for characters, stories or ideas.
Grammar: Used figuratively and often after a verb like feel or seem: the villain feels three-dimensional.
Patterns
- a three-dimensional character
- feel three-dimensional
The novelist gives even minor characters a three-dimensional life.
Critics praised the actor for making a stock villain three-dimensional.
Her argument felt more three-dimensional once she added personal stories.
Common combinations
- three-dimensional space
- Birds move freely through three-dimensional space.
- three-dimensional image
- The scanner produces a three-dimensional image of the bone.
- three-dimensional printing
- Three-dimensional printing lets the school make spare parts cheaply.
- three-dimensional character
- The film's strength is its three-dimensional heroine.
- three-dimensional puzzle
- He spent the evening on a three-dimensional puzzle shaped like a castle.
Synonyms and how they differ
- 3D
- 3D is the everyday short form and is common in cinema and technology, whereas three-dimensional sounds more formal and is preferred in maths and science.
- solid
- Solid describes an object that fills space rather than a flat outline, but it also suggests being firm or not hollow, which three-dimensional does not.
- lifelike
- Lifelike stresses a close resemblance to something real, while three-dimensional for characters stresses depth and complexity.
Opposites
Word family
- dimension noun
- a measurable extent such as length, width or height
- dimensional adjective
- relating to dimensions
- three-dimensionally adverb
- in a way that shows depth or all three dimensions
- two-dimensional adjective
- having only length and width; also shallow when applied to characters
Commonly confused: three-dimensional or three-dimension?
three-dimensional vs three-dimension
Not standard as an adjective. Use three-dimensional before a noun, or say 3D.
Practice
Which sentence uses the figurative meaning of the word correctly?
Choose one answer.
Describing a character as three-dimensional means she feels deep and real. The first option contradicts itself with flat, and the others misuse the literal meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “three-dimensional”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.