auteur

American  

[oh-tur, oh-tœr] / oʊˈtɜr, oʊˈtœr /

noun

auteurs plural

1. a filmmaker whose individual style and complete control over all elements of production give a film its personal and unique stamp.

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auteur British  

/ ɔːˈtɜː /

noun

1. a director whose creative influence on a film is so great as to be considered its author

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• auteurist
  adjective
• auteurism
  noun

Inflected Forms

noun

• auteurs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of auteur

1960–65; < French: literally, author, originator < Latin auctor. See author

Explanation

If you're an auteur, you make movies that show off your personal style and vision, and you make those movies exactly the way you want: you won’t let any studio executives force you to change the ending. The word auteur came into English from the French word of the same name, meaning literally “author.” If you’re an auteur, you are truly the author of your own movie. Most movies have a lot of different people contributing to the final product, but an auteur insists on having the final say, and hates it when her vision is compromised. The word even has an uppity feel and sound to it. Pronounce it "oh-TUR."

Example Sentences

Which is ironic, of course, given that there’s a character in “The Sympathizer,” who is a director known only as The Auteur.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2024

Some are obvious to any Hitchcock fan: the Murderer, the Womanizer, the Auteur, the Voyeur, the Entertainer.

From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2021

His latest, a 16-page Auteur Theory of Comics comic, premiered at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

From Salon • Jul. 19, 2012

Sarris coined that term in his 1962 essay Notes on the Auteur Theory, which he developed later in his influential book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929-1968.

From The Guardian • Jun. 22, 2012

Monsieur Wells, Auteur d’une histoire fine et romanesque Traduit par Davray; il a des idées C’est une chose rare là-bas .

From Masques & Phases by Ross, Robert