auteur
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Vocabulary lists containing auteur
English Words Derived from French, List 9
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Ten Words from The New York Times - June 26, 2013
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Imposter Syndrome & Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Not every returning auteur brought their A-game, but we found enough to like, including strong work from Pedro Almodóvar, Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Jane Schoenbrun.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
"Enough people among my colleagues voted and said: 'You did a good job as director,' and that means a lot," said the 52-year-old Danish-Norwegian auteur filmmaker.
From Barron's ● Mar. 2, 2026
In March 2022, forward-thinking British pop auteur Charli xcx released what was to be her “sellout” record, “Crash.”
From Salon ● Feb. 8, 2026
Squarespace is the venue for the latest collaboration between Emma Stone and auteur director Yorgos Lanthimos.
From Slate ● Feb. 8, 2026
“My dad said I should film on my own because that’s what auteur directors’ do, but I don’t really want to.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
Meanwhile major auteurs of a previous generation scored commercial comebacks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
Its director Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest auteurs of contemporary US cinema, but has never won any of his 11 previous nominations for films including "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights."
From Barron's ● Mar. 15, 2026
It would take another decade — and auteurs on the East Coast — to launch another attack on that sensibility, via films like “Do the Right Thing” and “sex, lies, and videotape.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
Hawke has spent his career carefully choosing which auteurs he works with.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025
Have you seen Ernest Daudet's book just published, Les auteurs de la guerre de 1914?
From Some Diversions of a Man of Letters by Gosse, Edmund
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
