trompe
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of trompe
Borrowed into English from French around 1820–30
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.
In contrast, David renders with trompe l’oeil precision the wood grain of the cheap crate that Marat was using as a table beside his tub.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 29, 2025
A striking dress featured a trompe l’oeil effect, cleverly designed to appear two-dimensional.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 2, 2024
One Street Grandma piece, inspired by a vintage Champion tee from the 1970s, features a trompe l’oeil image of blue overalls over a capacious, heavyweight, white cotton tee.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 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
He was awake, lying spread-eagle in his big platform bed, looking up at the trompe l’oeil painting of a domed and gilded ceiling that was open at the center to a pink sky.
From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson
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.
