Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

film noir

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.47 in modern English

Syllables: film noir
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A film genre characterized by low-key lighting, a bleak urban setting, and corrupt, cynical or desperate characters.

Uncountable

noun

An individual film in this genre.

Countable

Example Sentences

"During this period his own films were being studied alongside classic film noir together with European arthouse cinema and the works of directors from around the world."

Etymology

Borrowed from French film noir (“dark film”, literally “black film”), attributed to French film critic Nino Frank (1946).

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: film noir

Usage

Inflected Forms

film noirs (plural) films noirs (plural)

Phrases

neo-noir Nordic noir Scandinavian noir Scandi-noir Scandi noir

Questions

What does film noir mean?: A film genre characterized by low-key lighting, a bleak urban setting, and corrupt, cynical or desperate characters.
Where does film noir come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce film noir

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “film noir”.
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