film noir
[nwahr]
- a motion picture with an often grim urban setting, photographed in somber tones and permeated by a feeling of disillusionment, pessimism, and despair.
Show More
Origin of film noir
1955–60; < French: literally, black film
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for film noir
Contemporary Examples
Mr. Wright attributes this film-noir fantasy to Garry Scarff, who was never a Scientologist.
Pouw insists that this anecdote is nothing more than “film-noir fantasy” and that Scarff is a “self-admitted inveterate liar.”
film noir
- a gangster thriller, made esp in the 1940s in Hollywood characterized by contrasty lighting and often somewhat impenetrable plots
Show More
Word Origin
C20: French, literally: black film
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for film noir
n.
1958, from French, literally "black film," from noir (12c.), from Latin niger (see Negro).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper