noir

1 of 2

noun

ˈnwär 

1

: crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings

an example of classic noir

2

: film noir

a comedy dressed in the trappings of an edgy noir

noirish

ˈnwär-ish 

adjective

noir

2 of 2

adjective

: having a bleak and darkly cynical quality of the kind associated with hard-boiled crime fiction and film noir

a noir thriller

In this boldly styled first novel, Komarnicki follows a 30-year-old homeless man on a noir odyssey of death and survival through the streets of New Orleans and Hong Kong.

—Sybil S. Steinberg

The plot of this violent fairy tale is as noir and nasty as the characters.

—Marilyn Stasio

Examples of noir in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That’s not the kind of hold that the mid-budget neo noir was depending on after a muted opening. —J. Kim Murphy, Variety, 6 Sep. 2025

The film, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks and was a huge box-office success, zeroed in, noir style, on the FBI agent Carl Hanratty, who chased Abagnale, Javert-like, across the years. —Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, 5 Sep. 2025

Adjective

The film starts small, in a tight space, but the thrum of the city—its physical energy and its mighty administrative infrastructure—gives it a tension, a sense of ambient conflict that will, soon enough, turn an ordinary night into a neo-noir nightmare. —Richard Brody, New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2025

Americana is worth seeing — for Sweeney and her instant classic neo-noir characterization. —Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 22 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for film noir

First Known Use

Noun

1977, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1958, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing noir

• beurre noir
• film noir
• pinot noir

Rhymes for noir

• moire
• boudoir