Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A movie characterized by low-key lighting, a bleak urban setting, and corrupt, cynical characters.
- noun The genre or style of such movies.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
film characterized bylow-key lighting , ableak urban setting , andcorrupt ,cynical ordesperate characters .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a movie that is marked by a mood of pessimism, fatalism, menace, and cynical characters
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[French : film, film (from English film; see film) + noir, black (from Old French, from Latin niger, nigr-; see nekw-t- in Indo-European roots).]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Borrowing from French film noir (literally "black film")
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Examples
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