auteur

noun au·teur \ ō-ˈtər \

Definition of auteur

1 :a film director whose practice accords with the auteur theory; broadly :director c

2 :an artist (such as a musician or writer) whose style and practice are distinctive

—

auteurist

play \-ist\ adjective or noun

Recent Examples of auteur from the Web

His supporting cast wasn’t fit for a Nickelodeon sitcom, and as directors go, Jeff Fisher made Ed Wood look like a first-rate auteur in comparison (though for pure camp value, Fisher was every bit Wood’s equal).

— pat fitzmaurice, SI.com, "Los Angeles Rams Fantasy Football 2017 Preview: Forgive and Forget Todd Gurley," 2 Aug. 2017
Perhaps someone will adapt the story into a tongue-in-cheek horror film that would make the auteur proud.

— erin blakemore, Longreads, "Our Zombies, Ourselves: An Undead Reading List," 20 July 2017
An experienced auteur working in narrative and documentary film, Peddled premiered his fifth feature, Moss, at the Los Angeles film festival last month to rave reviews.

— janelle okwodu, Vogue, "Casting Director Daniel Peddle Challenges the Notion of “Two Americas” With His New Movie," 17 July 2017
Some might say that Bong has gone Hollywood, a misleading charge given how few U.S. studio filmmakers bring as distinctive an auteur signature to their work.

— justin chang, star-telegram.com, "South Korean director’s ‘Okja’ has audiences talking," 29 June 2017
Ultimately, the photographs tell a cinematic short story of which Tautou is the decisive auteur.

— sarah moroz, The Cut, "Intimate Self-portraits by Audrey Tautou," 28 June 2017
But what was depicted as a horror at the body and its fungible morphologies in much of the film auteur's work is in Tiley's a more playful turn.

— michael workman, chicagotribune.com, "'Material Eyes' video probes link between humans, robots at surgical science museum," 28 June 2017
Perhaps the old guard won’t stand forever, though: Atlanta auteur and future Lando Calrissian Donald Glover squeaked in at No.

— yohana desta, HWD, "Where Does Han Solo Go from Here?," 21 June 2017
FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME PRINT COMMENTS Other titles competing for the 20th annual Chinese cinema event include American comedy 'Brigsby Bear' and Hong Kong auteur Ann Hui's war drama 'Our Time Will Come.'

— patrick brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, "Shanghai Festival: Danish Auteur Bille August's 'The Chinese Widow' to Premiere in Competition," 9 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'auteur.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of auteur

French, originator, author, from Old French autor, from Latin auctor — more at author

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1962

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Other Performing Arts Terms

diva, dramaturgy, loge, prestidigitation, proscenium, supernumerary, zany

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