Welles

American

[welz] / wɛlz /

noun

(George) Orson, 1915–85, U.S. actor, director, and producer.
Gideon, 1802–78, U.S. journalist, legislator, and government official: Secretary of the Navy 1861–69.
Sumner, 1892–1961, U.S. diplomat and government official.

Welles British

/ wɛlz /

noun

( George ) Orson (ˈɔːs ^ə n). 1915–85, US film director, actor, producer, and screenwriter. His Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) are regarded as film classics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Folk musician Jesse Welles has been reaching a far larger audience.

From Barron's • Jan. 29, 2026

Alfred Hitchcock, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, Stanley Kubrick and many others made incredible films that directly contradicted the edicts of studio bosses at the behest of the government.

From Salon • Jan. 1, 2026

Orson Welles didn’t shun technology in “Citizen Kane”; he pioneered deep-focus cinematography, added ceilings to sets for unprecedented angles, manipulated lighting for psychological texture, and cut time with “lightning mixes” that astonished audiences.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025

She featured in a television documentary narrated by Orson Welles, which saw her playing and wrestling with baby chimps.

From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025

When they arrived at her uncle’s home, he told them that the heat ray and black smoke were just part of an Orson Welles story.

From "Spooked!" by Gail Jarrow

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023