trompe l'oeil
Americannoun
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visual deception, especially in paintings, in which objects are rendered in extremely fine detail emphasizing the illusion of tactile and spatial qualities.
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a painting, mural, or panel of wallpaper designed to create such an effect.
noun
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a painting or decoration giving a convincing illusion of reality
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an effect of this kind
Etymology
Origin of trompe l'oeil
1895–1900; < French: literally, (it) fools the eye
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.
Along one wall, a 19th-century trompe l’oeil screen dramatizes the classical gentlemanly taste that dominated among Neo-Confucian elites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 6, 2026
“Labyrinth” is fortified with trompe l’oeil wonders, but none are as powerful as a dream sequence resulting from Sarah lapsing into a hallucination after she bites into an enchanted peach.
From Salon ● Jan. 24, 2026
As a viewer marches down the nave toward the high altar, the apostles also come into view, on a trompe l’oeil ledge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 9, 2026
I may sound cynical, but I couldn’t help but balk at that sense of trompe l’oeil profundity, beautifully rendered but fundamentally unchallenging.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
It was a kind of aural trompe l’oeil.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
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.
