Tableau definition : a picture, as of a scene.. See examples of TABLEAU used in a sentence. The meaning of TABLEAU is a graphic description or representation : picture. How to use tableau in a sentence. A tableau is a dramatic picture. If you catch a glance into the Oval Office and see top advisers speaking to each other with intensity, you behold a dramatic political tableau . Define tableau . tableau synonyms, tableau pronunciation, tableau translation, English dictionary definition of tableau . n. pl. tab·leaux or tab·leaus 1. A vivid or graphic description: The movie was a tableau of a soldier's life. 2. A striking incidental scene, as of a...