Dictionary

stick figure en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A simple drawing, usually representing a human. ▸ A line drawing with a circle for the head and straight lines for the torso and limbs.
   • The first thing one notices about the painting is the striking difference in style between the human figure and the animals; the animals are rendered in the naturalistic style of the other figures at Lascaux, but the man is a mere stick figure and is so stylized as to seem some sort of mediation between the naturalistic style of the animals on the one hand and the abstract signs on the other. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 110:
2. A simple drawing, usually representing a human. ▸ An outline, with a more realistic body shape, commonly used on warning signs, bathroom doors, and in other such symbols.
3. (derogatory) A skinny person.

Forms

Relateds

stickman · stick fight · lay figure

Synonyms

thin person · skin and bones

Translations (18)

tr çöp adam (simple line drawing) · fr bonhomme allumette (simple line drawing) · es monigote (simple line drawing) · cmn 火柴人 (simple line drawing) · sv streckgubbe (simple line drawing) · fi tikku-ukko (simple line drawing) · ca figura de pal (simple line drawing) · no strekfigur (simple line drawing) · vi người que (simple line drawing) · fr bonhomme bâton (simple line drawing) · de Strichmännchen (simple line drawing) · mi tuahiwi (simple line drawing) · ko 막대인간 (simple line drawing) · es figura de / a palitos (simple line drawing) · ga duine cipíneach (simple line drawing) · ca ninot de pal (simple line drawing) · pt boneco de palito (simple line drawing) · ja 棒人間 (simple line drawing)