What does foreshortened mean?
Foreshortened describes the way an object appears shorter than it really is when seen at an angle receding from the viewer — the effect that makes a road seem to narrow into the distance or an outstretched arm look compressed in a painting. As a term it belongs chiefly to art and photography, where foreshortening is a fundamental technique of perspective: artists deliberately distort lengths and shapes so that three-dimensional figures read convincingly on a flat surface. A foreshortened figure in a Renaissance ceiling painting may look dramatically squat from below yet perfectly proportioned when viewed from the intended vantage point. The word carries a precise, technical flavor and should not be confused with simple shortening; nothing has physically shrunk, only the geometry of sight has done its work. It is a useful word for anyone describing visual perception, composition, or the persuasive illusions of representational art.
Depicted or appearing shorter than the true length of the object, as a result of viewing angle or deliberate artistic technique.
"The fresco's foreshortened limbs create a startling illusion of depth overhead."
Used almost exclusively in art, design, and photographic contexts.
Past tense of foreshorten: represented an object or figure in a way that reduces its apparent length to convey depth or recession.
"The illustrator foreshortened the runner's leading leg to suggest speed."
Without foreshortening, Mantegna's dead Christ would look like a lifeless doll — this one trick of perspective is what makes painted bodies lurch off the canvas at you.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of foreshortened
The word derives from the verb "foreshorten," formed in English from the prefix "fore-" and "shorten," and emerged in the early seventeenth century alongside the flowering of perspective theory in European art. Its components are thoroughly Germanic: "fore-" conveys the idea of beforehand or in front, while "shorten" comes from the Old English adjective "sceort." The compound was coined specifically to name the artist's technique of representing recession in space, and its cognates are simply the wider family of English words built on "short" rather than borrowings from Latin or Greek.
Related word forms
How foreshortened is actually used
"Foreshortened" is almost always found in discussions of art, drawing, photography, and optics, and carries a technical rather than everyday connotation. It describes perceived or depicted shortness, not actual shortness, so it would be incorrect to call a genuinely short object merely "foreshortened."
Easily confused with foreshortened
"Shortened" means made physically or temporally shorter in fact, while "foreshortened" means appearing shorter because of the angle of view or an artist's rendering technique.