silhouette
Americannoun
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a two-dimensional representation of the outline of an object, as a cutout or configurational drawing, uniformly filled in with black, especially a black-paper, miniature cutout of the outlines of a person's face in profile.
-
the outline or general shape of something.
the slim silhouette of a skyscraper.
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a dark image outlined against a lighter background.
verb (used with object)
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to show in or as if in a silhouette.
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Printing. to remove the background details from (a halftone cut) so as to produce an outline effect.
noun
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the outline of a solid figure as cast by its shadow
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an outline drawing filled in with black, often a profile portrait cut out of black paper and mounted on a light ground
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have silhouettedperfect
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has silhouettedperfect 3rd person singular
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have been silhouettingperfect progressive
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is silhouettingprogressive 3rd person singular
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has been silhouettingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are silhouettingprogressive
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am silhouettingprogressive 1st person singular
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silhouettingparticiple
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silhouettessingular 3rd person
Past
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had silhouettedperfect
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silhouettedparticiple
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had been silhouettingperfect progressive
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was silhouettingprogressive singular
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were silhouettingprogressive plural
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silhouettedsimple
Future
Etymology
Origin of silhouette
First recorded in 1790–1800; from French à la silhouette, after Etienne de Silhouette (1709–67), French finance minister; the surname Silhouette is ultimately from Basque Zilhoeta, from zilo, zilho, zulo “hole” + -eta, toponymic suffix
Explanation
A silhouette is dark shadow, like a silhouette of a person standing under a street lamp, or a drawing that shows only the shape of an object. A silhouette, pronounced "sil-ooh-ET," can be mysterious. After all, you can only see the shape of the person or object. So, it's fitting that the word's origin is a little mysterious, too. It was coined for Etienne de Silhouette, a French finance minister. One theory is that Silhouette decorated his chateau with the kind of dark outline drawings that now bear his name.
Vocabulary lists containing silhouette
Long Way Down
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You Name It: Eponyms
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"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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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.
He stands in silhouette against the dawn of American nationhood like the rock towers in Utah’s Bryce Canyon: magnificent, awe-inspiring, inert.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
Guests who don’t want to run their face through the technology can enter through a separate entrance marked with a silhouette of a head and shoulders with a slash through it.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
"The munition depicted in the video appears to be twice as long, consistent with the dimensions and silhouette of an Iranian Hoveyzeh cruise missile," Capt Hawkins said.
From BBC • Apr. 3, 2026
Unlike most other officers at the time, Napoleon wore his hat sideways, which gave him a distinct silhouette easily recognised by his troops in battle.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
The church, bathed in starlight, glowed against the black silhouette of the mountain behind it, and on the hill above the post office I could make out the spires of Mr. Van Dyke’s mansion.
From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam
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.
