: a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music
also
: a film of this type
Examples of film noir in a Sentence
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Feiffer got his first job as a 17-year-old assistant to the great Will Eisner, the creator of The Spirit, a weekly newspaper supplement about a masked crimefighter in a sophisticated film noir–like world.
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Art Spiegelman, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025
But film noir certainly wouldn’t have been the same without the combination of Wilder’s sour take on humanity and Chandler’s dialogue.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
Joan Crawford — Mildred Pierce (1945) Is Mildred Pierce a film noir?
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025
His use of light resembles that of a film noir and has inspired filmmakers, like Alfred Hitchcock.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for film noir
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Art Spiegelman, The Atlantic, 9 Apr. 2025
But film noir certainly wouldn’t have been the same without the combination of Wilder’s sour take on humanity and Chandler’s dialogue.
—Keith Phipps, Vulture, 3 Mar. 2025
Joan Crawford — Mildred Pierce (1945) Is Mildred Pierce a film noir?
—Ew Staff, EW.com, 2 Mar. 2025
His use of light resembles that of a film noir and has inspired filmmakers, like Alfred Hitchcock.
—Leah Asmelash, CNN, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for film noir
Cite this Entry
“Film noir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/film%20noir. Accessed 18 Apr. 2025.
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