oeuvre

noun

oeu·​vre ˈu̇-vrə 

ˈər-,

ˈə-,

ˈœ- 

plural oeuvres ˈu̇-vrə 

ˈə(r)-,

ˈœ- 

: a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer

a catalogue of Rembrandt's oeuvre

scrupulously examines Dickens' oeuvre in order to demonstrate how his convictions helped to determine the shape of his novels

—G. J. Worth

Synonyms of oeuvre

• output
• corpus

Examples of oeuvre in a Sentence

a novel that occupies a relatively minor position in the author's oeuvre

Recent Examples on the Web

That gives the creative team ample freedom to flesh out their vision of Derry, all while paying tribute to the breadth of King's vast oeuvre, which, by virtue of the author's penchant for cross-pollination, lends itself to Easter eggs. —Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Oct. 2025

For the event, Bieber retained her preferred nail shape, a medium-long almond, but swapped the creamier texture of her mani oeuvre in favor of a nearly translucent nail, with a frosty wash of the most delicate color where a white French tip would typically be. —Kara Nesvig, Allure, 30 Oct. 2025

Vogue sat down with McKinley to discuss the timeliness of the show, what makes Keïta’s work so singular, and how design sits at the heart of his photographic oeuvre. —Folasade Ologundudu, Vogue, 24 Oct. 2025

Back at Focus Fest, Liam Newman, a North Hollywood sound engineer and Letterboxd user, came to the event after binging Lanthimos’ oeuvre and is looking forward to the director’s latest. —Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, literally, "work," going back to Old French ovre, going back to Latin opera "activity, effort, attention, work," collective derivative from oper-, opus "work, effort, product of labor" — more at opus

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for oeuvre

• louvre