auteur

[ oh-tur; French oh-tœr ]

noun

, plural au·teurs [oh-, turz, oh-, tœr].

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

auteur

/ ɔːˈtɜː /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• auˈteurist, adjective
• auˈteurism, noun

Other Words From

• au·teurism noun
• au·teurist adjective noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of auteur¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of auteur¹

French: author

Example Sentences

The sweet snapshot of a crazy, sometimes stupid love proved Sandler had a thespian side and that PTA could have a long career as a rom-com auteur.

From Time

There may be no actual monsters in del Toro’s film, only wretched men, but as a devoted horror maven, the auteur still makes sure to linger on the geek’s gruesome feeding, just as he’ll later fixate on a victim’s mauled face.

From The Daily Beast

Director and award recipient Mike Mills attends the Auteur Award Presentation during the 24th SCAD Savannah Film Festival on October 27, 2021, in Savannah, Georgia.

From The Daily Beast

Among them is the fantasy epic Princess Mononoke, written and directed by the renowned auteur Hayao Miyazaki.

From Time

After all, the director is the central, guiding agent of filmmaking, the one with the imaginative vision and the power to implement it, the auteur to whom the picture’s success or failure — artistic, if not commercial — is to be attributed.

From Washington Post

The acclaimed auteur spoke to Marlow Stern about a month ago on how cable TV is the new arthouse.

From The Daily Beast

For stars, though, the fall of the comedy auteur means that the margin of error between a hit and a farrago is razor thin.

From The Daily Beast

But Noah is something different: a big, risky bet on a talented auteur.

From The Daily Beast

They seemed very much like auteur works—but the auteur works of a writer, not the auteur works of a director.

From The Daily Beast

But apparently the studio is aware of a possibility that its auteur prefers to ignore.

From The Daily Beast

Diderot says "Il lisait et tudiait partout, je l'ai moi-mme rencontr sur les grandes routes avec un auteur rabinnique la main."

From Project Gutenberg

Ook de stijl van de auteur in het gebruik van aanhalingstekens is niet gewijzigd.

From Project Gutenberg

Or cet auteur, il est deux cent lieues de la Saxe, il ignore la langue et il ne s'est jamais appliqu l'histoire de l'Allemagne.

From Project Gutenberg

Craignez tout d'un auteur en courroux—Fear 35 the worst from an enraged author.

From Project Gutenberg

Souvent la perfidie retourne sur son auteur—Treachery often recoils on the head of its author.

From Project Gutenberg