oeuvre

American  

[œ-vr^uh] / ˈœ vrə /

noun

French.

plural

oeuvres

1. the works of a writer, painter, or the like, taken as a whole.

2. any one of the works of a writer, painter, or the like.

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oeuvre British  

/ œvrə /

noun

1. a work of art, literature, music, etc

2. the total output of a writer, painter, etc

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Usage

What does oeuvre mean? An artist’s oeuvre is their total body of work.Oeuvre can also refer to a single work of art, but it most commonly refers to the collective work of an artist over a lifetime.Oeuvre is a formal word most commonly used in the discussion of artists like painters, composers, and literary figures. Because it’s a French loanword and it’s a kind of hard to pronounce, oeuvre is sometimes considered a bit pretentious.Example: Common throughout F. Scott Fitzgerald’s oeuvre is the theme of indulgence, most evident in his standout novel The Great Gatsby.

Etymology

Origin of oeuvre

ultimately from Latin opera, plural of opus work

Example Sentences

But he built his oeuvre out of accretion, on the artworks of other artists, especially the Readymades of Marcel Duchamp.

From The Wall Street Journal

Played as a maudlin admission that she’s a fallen woman, this scene would doom the play to a dusty footnote in O’Neill’s oeuvre.

From The Wall Street Journal

Delightful characters and dialogue contribute to the appeal of Mr. Osman’s oeuvre.

From The Wall Street Journal

The author is evidently enamored with Soutine’s oeuvre, and she approaches his works with the same starstruck reverence that Soutine showed for such artists as Rembrandt.

From The Wall Street Journal

The works on paper here offer another perspective on her creative process, revealing elements that crop up across her oeuvre, but are fully realized artworks in their own right.

From The Wall Street Journal