4 meanings
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1 —as in:
Look at it from her perspective
Definition
a particular way of seeing or thinking about things- A child who was abused with have a different perspective of family life than one raised in a nurturing home.
perspective = way of seeing or thinking about things
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Also, try to see it from her perspective before you make up your mind.
- The story is written from the student's perspective—which is very different than that of the teacher.
- It shaped his whole perspective.Stephenie Meyer -- Breaking Dawn
- I bring a perspective born in the brutal reality of child abuse and nurtured in hope for a better tomorrow.Dave Pelzer -- A Child Called It
- I try to think about it from their perspectives.Gayle Forman -- If I Stay
- But even when I was late, everyone seemed happy to have me there—to provide the "feminine teen perspective" they called it.Jay Asher -- Thirteen Reasons Why
- No one's ever written a book like this.... We'd be breaking new ground. It's a brand-new perspective.Kathryn Stockett -- The Help
- How it must have looked from Peeta's perspective when I appeared in the arena having received burn medicine and bread when he, who was at death's door, had gotten nothing.Suzanne Collins -- Catching Fire
- "Look at it from his perspective," Mom said.Jeannette Walls -- The Glass Castle
perspective = a particular way of seeing or thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing or thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
perspectives = ways of seeing or thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
perspective = way of seeing and thinking about things
2 —as in:
Keep it in perspective
Definition
a sensible view of a situation that considers its different parts in a balanced way- She loses perspective and continually wants to change the plan in a manner that depends on the most recent complaint.
perspective = a sensible view of a situation
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- Attending a funeral helps me to put life into perspective and to separate the important things from those that are less important.
- The average person is so fogged up by all this, he has no perspective on what's really important anymore.Mitch Albom -- Tuesdays with Morrie
- He'll gain some perspective while he's away.Stephenie Meyer -- The Host
- Okay, Over the Last Few Years I may have gained a little perspective.Ellen Hopkins -- Crank
- To put it into perspective, the congressional district that included Beaufort covered the entire eastern part of the state-some twenty thousand square miles-and there wasn't a single town with more than twenty-five thousand people.Nicholas Sparks -- A Walk to Remember
- Perspective was a luxury when your head was constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.Khaled Hosseini -- The Kite Runner
- Making sure you don't lose perspective.Khaled Hosseini -- A Thousand Splendid Suns
- And when he awoke, he looked upon the events of the previous day with more perspective.Amor Towles -- A Gentleman in Moscow
- Although he castigated himself severely for this waste of a life he'd taken, a day later McCandless appeared to regain some perspective, for his journal notes, "henceforth will learn to accept my errors, however great they be."Jon Krakauer -- Into the Wild
perspective = a sensible view
perspective = sensible view
perspective = a sensible view of a situation
perspective = a sensible view of a situation
perspective = a sensible view
perspective = a sensible view of a situation
perspective = a sensible view of a situation
perspective = (of) a sensible view
perspective = a sensible view
3 —as in:
perspective in art
Definition
giving a 2-dimensional picture a 3-dimensional appearance by making parts that are farther away look smaller than things that are close; or a picture drawn in such a manner- When train tracks are drawn with perspective, they appear to come together in the distance.
perspective = representing images so they are smaller when they are further away
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The artist intentionally breaks the rules of perspective.
- And then Mother went away and I drew a picture of a bus using perspective so that I didn't think about the pain in my chest and it looked like this....Mark Haddon -- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
- A quarter of an hour later he stopped before a large cabin, adorned with several clusters of streamers, the exterior walls of which were designed to represent, in violent colours and without perspective, a company of jugglers.Jules Verne -- Around the World in 80 Days
- The columns, the fountain, the arches were all realized in perfect perspective to perfect proportion, with every ornament in place.Amor Towles -- A Gentleman in Moscow
- The gray dusty truck, in the yard before the door, stood out magically in this light, in the overdrawn perspective of a stereopticon.John Steinbeck -- The Grapes of Wrath
perspective = representing images so they are smaller when they are further away
perspective = giving a 2-dimensional picture a 3-dimensional appearance
perspective = 3-dimensional appearance
perspective = 3-dimensional appearance
perspective = 3-dimensional appearance
4 —as in:
a perspective of the entire block
Definition
a view — often stressing that the view is different from a view from another location- The penthouse window gives a perspective on half the city.
perspective = view
Other Uses (with this meaning)
- The clouds and turns in the trail continually change the magnificent perspectives while hiking in the mountains.
- A perspective of little streets. On the right Roxane's house and the wall of her garden overhung with thick foliage.Edmond Rostand -- Cyrano de Bergerac
- I constantly whipped my head around, searching for the fourth marker–a big dome-shaped peak with a missing piece, a curved absence scooped from its side that Melanie had only shown me this morning–as if the perspective would have changed from my last step.Stephenie Meyer -- The Host
- He tilts his head to look at himself from different angles, like there's some magic perspective inside the mirror that could change the dimensions of his face.R.J. Palacio -- Wonder
- Each of the rooms of the Metropol offered an entirely different perspective—one that was shaped not only by altitude and orientation, but by season and time of day.Amor Towles -- A Gentleman in Moscow
- The beach between the palm terrace and the water was a thin stick, endless apparently, for to Ralph's left the perspectives of palm and beach and water drew to a point at infinity; and always, almost visible, was the heat.William Golding -- Lord of the Flies
- The new levers on your control panel enable you to see from the perspective of any of your squadron leaders.Orson Scott Card -- Ender's Game
- Only for me, the long perspective of shades that set off one box from the next had suddenly snapped up, and I could see day after day after day glaring ahead of me like a white, broad, infinitely desolate avenue.Sylvia Plath -- The Bell Jar
- For we were so deep under the hill whereon it was set that the angle of perspective of the Carpathian mountains was far below it.Bram Stoker -- Dracula
perspectives = views
perspective = view
perspective = view (appearance from where looking)
perspective = view (appearance from where looking)
perspective = view
perspectives = views
perspective = view
perspective = view
perspective = view
Less commonly:
Less commonly, in classic literature, perspective glass or perspectives can refer to a small telescope. More specialized senses of perspective are found in geometry, sound engineering, and philosophy. Consult a comprehensive dictionary if you wish to see those. All the common senses have to do with the way something is viewed.