specifically : discourse intended to give a mental image of something experienced beautiful beyond description gave an accurate description of what he saw b : a statement or account giving the characteristics of someone or something : a descriptive statement or account The review was little more than a description of the film's plot. 2 : kind or character especially as determined by salient (see SALIENT entry 1 sense 3b) features someone fitting the suspect's description had toys of every description opposed to any tax of so radical a description Synonyms