HOW TO PRONOUNCE
tableau
/tæˈbloʊ/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:40
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ta-BLOH: the final eau sounds like “oh.”
Stress the second syllable, joining b and l closely. The first vowel is the short a of “cat,” without the long a of “table.”
TRY SAYING
“The actors froze in a tableau as the lights faded.”
APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗What does tableau mean?
noun
- A striking and vivid representation or scene; a picture.
- A vivid graphic scene of a group of people or objects arranged as in a painting or bas relief sculpture.
- A two-dimensional array or table of data, usually numbers, of various specific kinds.
More meanings (5)
noun
- A table that shows constraint violations of a list of candidates given an input and a constraint ranking.
- Mostly in solitaire card games, but also in other card and board games, the main area, where random cards can be arranged.
- A semantic tableau.
- A unit of a play, an opera, or a ballet with change of stage setting.
- (dated) An arrangement of actors in static positions on stage, having the effect of pointing up a particular moment in the drama, conventionally revealed by opening tableau curtains (known as "tabs").
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/tæˈbloʊ/
Pronunciation used in the listening tip.
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
At sight of this tableau, many of the men in blue sprang from behind their covers and made an ungainly dance of joy.
I can still see the tableau they made in the firelit room and hear the unfamiliar accents of their speech as they talked together.
More book examples (3)
The party in the inner room think of some word which can be represented entire, in pantomime or tableau, and proceed to enact it.
She looked as amazed as might be expected on seeing the curious tableau in her yard, but when she heard Diana’s explanation she was all sympathy.
It was as good as a tableau; in fact, it had all the look of being gotten up for that, though it wasn't.