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three-dimensional

/θridɪˈmɛnʃɪnəl/
/θridɪˈmɛnʃɪnəl/
IPA guide

Things that have depth and can be rotated in space are three-dimensional. Everything around you that you can touch or move around—your sneaker, your dog, the rug on the floor—is three-dimensional.

Dimensionality can be a tricky quality to understand, but it helps to think of a line connecting two points as one-dimensional and a flat plane or shape, like a triangle drawn on paper, as two-dimensional. When you add depth to a shape, you get a three-dimensional object: a triangle becomes a pyramid, for example. When a story or other work of art is so well-made and detailed that it's believable, you can also describe it as three-dimensional.

Definitions of three-dimensional
  1. adjective
    involving or relating to three dimensions or aspects; giving the illusion of depth
    “lifelike three-dimensional characters”
    “a three-dimensional account of conditions under the new government”
    multidimensional
    having or involving or marked by several dimensions or aspects
  2. adjective
    having three dimensions
    synonyms: cubic
    blockish, blocky
    resembling a block in shape
    box-shaped, boxlike, boxy
    resembling a box in rectangularity
    brick-shaped
    shaped like a brick
    isometric
    of a crystal system characterized by three equal axes at right angles
    solid
    having three dimensions
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