Main Entry:

ten·e·brism

Pronunciation:

\ˈte-nə-ˌbri-zəm\

Function:

noun

Usage:

often capitalized

Etymology:

Latin tenebrae darkness

Date:

1954

: a style of painting especially associated with the Italian painter Caravaggio and his followers in which most of the figures are engulfed in shadow but some are dramatically illuminated by a beam of light usually from an identifiable source

— ten·e·brist \-brist\ noun or adjective often capitalized