illustrationEnglishOxford American Thesaurusillustration noun 1 the illustrations in children's books: picture, drawing, sketch, figure, graphic; plate, print, engraving, etching, cut, woodcut, linocut, photogravure, duotone, halftone. ▷antonyms text. 2 the way in which tax relief is obtained can best be described by way of illustration: exemplification, demonstration, showing, instancing; example, typical case, representative case, case in point, instance, specimen, sample, exemplar, analogy. 3 students interested in a career in illustration: artwork, design, graphic design; ornamentation, decoration, embellishment, adornment.