trompe l'oeil
/ˈtɹɔmp ˈlɔɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.92 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
1
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "It looked like a private apartment, and yet it seemed also to be a place of business. It was furnished in decorative style with plastic, trick art objects hanging on the walls, geometrical forms of the trompe l'oeil type that intrigue business people. They are peculiarly vulnerable to art racketeers."
- "In 2008 they moved to New York, where they made waves at the 2010 Whitney Biennial with their “Fold” paintings, spray-painted canvases that were flat but seemed crumpled, a trompe l’oeil trick that reflected the artist’s enduring preoccupation with interdimensionality."
Etymology
Borrowed from French trompe-l’œil (literally “deceives the eye”), from trompe (“deceives”, third-person singular present indicative of tromper) + l’ (“the”, prevocalic form of le) + œil (“eye”).
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: trompe-l’œil
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɹɔmp ˈlɔɪ/
- British English: /ˈtɹɔ̃p ˈlœj/
Usage
Inflected Forms
trompe l'oeils (plural)
trompe l’œil (alternative)
trompe-l’oeil (alternative)
trompe-l’œil (alternative)