Phrase guide

blank canvas

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An unmarked or empty state, offering a limitless potential for creation, development or interpretation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: also, figuratively

Topics: epistemology, human-sciences, philosophy, sciences

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: new canvas, clean slate, new page, new sheet, new leaf
  • After his ex-wife moved out, his life was a blank canvas.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: blank slate, empty canvas, empty page, blank page, empty sheet, blank sheet, empty leaf, blank leaf, new canvas, clean slate, new page, new sheet, new leaf

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blank, canvas.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

By analogy with artists who begin with a blank canvas, thereby possessing the freedom to shape it according to their creative inclinations.