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film noir

[ nwahr ]

noun

  1. a motion picture with an often grim urban setting, photographed in somber tones and permeated by a feeling of disillusionment, pessimism, and despair.


film noir

/ nwɑː /

noun

  1. a gangster thriller, made esp in the 1940s in Hollywood characterized by contrasty lighting and often somewhat impenetrable plots
“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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of film noir1

1955–60; < French: literally, black film
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Word History and Origins

Origin of film noir1

C20: French, literally: black film
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Example Sentences

Desplat introduces his main theme, a melancholy, bluesy tune that he wanted to evoke both eerie film noir and the “tragic story of the heritage of slavery.”

But even that doesn’t seem fitting for works that nod to centuries-old chant music and film noir.

A radical restaging of Hollywood film noir musical ‘Sunset Boulevard’ was the big winner on Sunday at the London stage Olivier Awards.

It wraps its comic book book tropes in a mantle of film noir, a genre where such distinctions were not always so clear.

Some are horror stories, some have a tinge of film noir.

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