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.
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
He plunged into the archives, taking inspiration from fashion house founder Franco Moschino’s sense of subversion, love of archetypes and trompe l’oeil playfulness.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024
The Plains of Yonder team looked at 16th century art and trompe l’oeil paintings to establish the imaginative visuals that mix the “sacred with the profane.”
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2023
He does all this with a combination of flat, saturated color, trompe l’oeil shadows and tiny, overlapping daubs of paint that split the difference between TV static and Ben-Day dots.
From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2023
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.
