1
Core quality
Producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
Example
The memoir offers a vivid description of the flood.
vivid
/ˈvɪvɪd/ · VIV-idadjective
Producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
Use vivid to express this relationship precisely: producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
What vivid Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Attributive or predicative use
Use this adjective before a suitable noun or after a linking verb such as be or seem.
Example
Vivid colours make the figures stand out.
3
Analytical distinction
Choose it when this exact descriptive quality matters; a related word may overlap without conveying the same trait.
Example
She retained a vivid memory of the first performance.
Use vivid Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
The memoir offers a vivid description of the flood.
Vivid colours make the figures stand out.
She retained a vivid memory of the first performance.
Precision Matters
Vivid overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
vivid
vs.Means producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
palpable
Means so noticeable that it seems capable of being felt.
vivid
vs.Means producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
explicit
Means stated directly and with complete clarity.
vivid
vs.Means producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
nebulous
Means vague, unclear, or insufficiently defined.
vivid
vs.Means producing clear, powerful, lifelike impressions through intense colour, detail, imagery, or memory.
imperceptible
Means impossible or extremely difficult to perceive.
Test vivid in Context
The description forms a clear and lifelike impression.
1
Through precise sensory details, the author creates a ___ picture of the crowded harbour.