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Before the age of the photograph, the silhouette, either cut from paper or painted, was the most affordable portrait that could be made. The art enjoyed a golden age in the second half of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, when many people collected them. Although silhouettes were well-loved, the man for whom they were named was not: Étienne de Silhouette was France's finance minister under Louis XV and was notorious for both his frugality and his hobby of making cut-paper shadow portraits. The phrase à la Silhouette came to mean "on the cheap," and portraits like the ones he produced were (satirically) bestowed with his name as well.
Examples of silhouette in a Sentence
Karissa Mitchell, Essence, 9 May 2025
Worth decided what women would wear, not by creating new silhouettes, but by changing the business model.
—Brian Ng, CNN Money, 9 May 2025
Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 2 May 2025
Taking inspiration from three of the most popular Ray-Ban silhouettes the Mega Wayfarer, Mega Clubmaster and Mega Balorama the differentiator is the nearly opaque black lenses, gold hardware and custom AWGE logo representing Rocky’s label and creative collective.
—Mecca Pryor, Essence, 18 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for silhouette
Cite this Entry
“Silhouette.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/silhouette. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
silhouette
1 of 2 noun
silhouette
2 of 2 verb
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