forced perspective

noun

: the use of any of various techniques (as in photography or architecture) to create the optical illusion that objects or people are smaller, larger, closer, or farther away than they really are

Our miniature sets were built in forced perspective to represent landscapes that reach to infinity …—

Alex Funke

Take a close look at Sleeping Beauty's castle and you'll start to realize that something a little strange is going on. [Walt] Disney and his team used the concept of forced perspective to design the entire park to look bigger, including the castle.—

Adam Toren

Hobbits appearing doll size, tourists pinching a grain-of-salt-size Eiffel Tower for Instagram, and beachgoers standing atop a body of water are all made possible by something called forced perspective, a technique that uses changes in distance and vantage point to hijack the way our minds perceive size.—

Sara Kiley Watson

also : an instance of this

Strategic camera angles and forced perspectives were used to create the illusion that [Harold] Lloyd was hanging off a clock tower some dozen stories up. —

Beth Accomando

—often used before another noun

forced perspective tricks/techniques

Tourists often take forced perspective photos of themselves appearing to hold up or lean on famous landmarks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa or the Eiffel Tower. —

Taranaki (New Zealand) Daily News

Examples of forced perspective in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

For whatever reason, Anderson’s conceit is that the entire project is taking place in an old-timey movie studio, with rear projection, forced perspective and other devices employed for our amusement. —

Peter Debruge, Variety, 1 Sep. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1817, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of forced perspective was in 1817

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Forced perspective.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/forced%20perspective. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.

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