Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

paint a rosy picture

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.25 in modern English

Syllables: paint a rosy pic-ture
IPA

26

Scrabble Score

17

Letters

2

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To describe a situation or prospective set of events in an upbeat, optimistic manner.

Example Sentences

"Censored dispatches painted a rosy picture of Soviet plenty, but uncensored reports told a different story […] [with] Soviet bureaucracy malfunctioning as usual."
"The company did paint a rosy picture of its investment banking division, booking record revenues of $1.7bn and saying its backlog of work stood at record levels."
"Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of the United States Central Command, did not paint a rosy picture of the situation in Afghanistan. […] He said needs included not only ground forces but also an array of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, military police officers, special operations, cargo and attack helicopters and more."

Inflected Forms

paints a rosy picture (present, singular) painting a rosy picture (participle, present) painted a rosy picture (participle, past) painted a rosy picture (past)

Phrases

rose-colored glasses

Frequently Paired Words

rose-colored glasses

Questions

What does paint a rosy picture mean?: To describe a situation or prospective set of events in an upbeat, optimistic manner.

How to pronounce paint a rosy picture

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