What does "impasto" mean?

The use of a thick-bodied paint to create peaks and crests that physically extend from the surface of a painting.

Impasto

Common synonyms include: coloring, finger painting, illumination, illustration, monochrome, painting.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The use of a thick-bodied paint to create peaks and crests that physically extend from the surface of a painting. countable, uncountable
"He was thinking, ʽGot to get a subject where a man can weight the impasto in light. Paint thin against light. Got to remember that.ʼ"
2
painting that applies the pigment thickly so that brush or palette knife marks are visible wordnet

Verb

1
To paint in thick-bodied paint; to paint in impasto style.
""She looked tall to me, and slim, with delicate Semitic features, and a full mouth that she impastoed with red lipstick to play against her […]""

"He was thinking, ʽGot to get a subject where a man can weight the impasto in light. Paint thin against light. Got to remember that.ʼ"

Borrowed from Italian impasto.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.