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With a genre like film noir, everyone has these assumptions and expectations. And once all of those things are in place, that's when you can really start to twist it about and mess around with it.
Lana Wachowski

Meaning of "film noir" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FILM NOIR

French, literally: black film.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF FILM NOIR

film noir  [nwɑː] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FILM NOIR

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Film noir is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES FILM NOIR MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression. The term film noir, French for "black film", first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era. Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively. Before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s, many of the classic films noirs were referred to as melodramas. Whether film noir qualifies as a distinct genre is a matter of ongoing debate among scholars.

Definition of film noir in the English dictionary

The definition of film noir in the dictionary is a gangster thriller, made esp in the 1940s in Hollywood characterized by contrasty lighting and often somewhat impenetrable plots.

WORDS THAT RHYME WITH FILM NOIR


armoire
ɑːmˈwɑː
baignoire
ˈbenwɑː
boudoir
ˈbuːdwɑː
bourgeois
ˈbʊəʒwɑː
Chihuahua
tʃɪˈwɑːwɑː
Chippewa
ˈtʃɪpɪˌwɑː
conservatoire
kənˈsɜːvəˌtwɑː
devoir
ˈdevwɑː
devoirs
dəˈvwɑː
Dubois
djuːˈbwɑː
fatwa
ˈfætwɑː
Kwa
kwɑː
memoir
ˈmɛmwɑː
noir
nwɑː
Renoir
ˈrɛnwɑː
repertoire
ˈrɛpəˌtwɑː
reservoir
ˈrɛzəˌvwɑː
Seychellois
ˌseɪʃɛlˈwɑː
tous-les-mois
ˌtuːleɪˈmwɑː
wawa
ˈwɑːˌwɑː

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE FILM NOIR

film camera
film clip
film colour
film company
film crew
film critic
film fan
film festival
film industry
film library
film pack
film projector
film rating
film rights
film script
film sequence
film set
film speed
film star
film strip

WORDS THAT END LIKE FILM NOIR

abattoir
au revoir
Beauvoir
choir
coir
couloir
de Beauvoir
Eure-et-Loir
gospel choir
grattoir
loir
male-voice choir
neo-noir
peignoir
Pinot Noir
preach to the choir
remontoir
rouge et noir
terroir
trottoir

Synonyms and antonyms of film noir in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

Translation of «film noir» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF FILM NOIR

Find out the translation of film noir to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of film noir from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «film noir» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

黑色电影
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

cine negro
570 millions of speakers

English

film noir
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

फिल्म NOIR
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

الفيلم نوير
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

фильм-нуар
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

film noir
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

ফিল্ম নীর
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

film noir
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Filem noir
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Film noir
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

フィルム·ノワール
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

필름 느와르
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Film noir
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

phim noir
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

திரைப்பட நாகர்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

फिल्म नोयर
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

Kara film
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

film noir
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

film noir
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

фільм- нуар
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

film noir
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

φιλμ νουάρ
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

film noir
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

film noir
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

film noir
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of film noir

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «FILM NOIR»

The term «film noir» is quite widely used and occupies the 30.133 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
86
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «film noir» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of film noir
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «film noir».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «FILM NOIR» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «film noir» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «film noir» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about film noir

EXAMPLES

4 QUOTES WITH «FILM NOIR»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word film noir.
1
Maureen Dowd
I'm into clothes, but in a way that's related to wanting to walk into a film noir movie. You know, I love to go to vintage stores, but mostly it's stuff that I don't have anywhere to wear... I don't have the life that goes with the clothes.
2
Lana Wachowski
With a genre like film noir, everyone has these assumptions and expectations. And once all of those things are in place, that's when you can really start to twist it about and mess around with it.
3
Lana Wachowski
Billy Wilder is really is a heavy influence on Bound. We felt that film noir was a genre where you could create a really contained story. We wanted to be on a set as much as we could to get the kind of style level we were looking for.
4
Marie Windsor
I didn't know I was doing film noir, I thought they were detective stories with low lighting!

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FILM NOIR»

Discover the use of film noir in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to film noir and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Film noir
Is an accessible, informative and stimulating introduction Film Noir This is an examination of a celebrated, but also contested, body of films whose history is more extensive and diverse than American black and white crime thrillers of the ...
Andrew Spicer, 2002
2
Film Noir
As well as discussing plot and structure in detail, the book profiles iconic actors such as Robert Mitchum in Out of the Past and The Night of the Hunter, legendary directors such as Billy Wilder, Orson Welles and Stanley Kubrick, and ...
Eddie Robson, 2005
3
Film Noir: From Berlin to Sin City
Iconic and enduring, film noir attracted great stars (Bogart, Bacall, Mitchum, Lancaster), many of the best directors of the era (Wilder, Lang, Preminger, Hawks, Siodmak, Welles) and this book is an indispensible guide to this popular genre ...
Mark Bould, 2013
4
More than Night: Film Noir in Its Contexts
James Naremore's prize-winning book discusses these pictures, but also shows that the central term is more complex and paradoxical than we realize.
James Naremore, 2007
5
The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir
An introduction to film noir that explores the genre's themes, visual motifs, character types, actors, directors, and influential films.
Foster Hirsch, 2008
6
Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy
In this book Robert Pippin argues that many of these films also raise distinctly philosophical questions.
Robert B. Pippin, 2012
7
Historical Dictionary of Film Noir
The Historical Dictionary of Film Noir is a comprehensive guide that ranges from 1940 to present day neo-noir.
Andrew Spicer, 2010
8
Hollywood Heroines: Women in Film Noir and the Female Gothic ...
Helen Hanson re-examines these gothic heroines of Hollywood and their meanings, in two of Hollywood's key generic cycles, film noir and the female gothic film.
Helen Hanson, 2007
9
The Philosophy of Film Noir
From The Maltese Falcon (1941) to Touch of Evil (1958), the classic film noir is easily recognizable for its unusual lighting, sinister plots, and feeling of paranoia. For critics and fans alike, these films defined an era.
Mark T. Conard, Robert Porfirio, 2007
10
Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir
The American film noir, the genre that focused on urban crime and corruption in the 1940's and 1950's, exhibits the greatest amount of narrative experimentation in the modern American cinema.
J. P. Telotte, 1989

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FILM NOIR»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term film noir is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Black Ops III's Zombie Mode Set In The 1940s, Film Noir Style
Call of Duty's popular zombies mode returns in Black Ops III, and it's surprisingly ambitious. It's called Shadows of Evil, and not only has a full ... «Kotaku, Jul 15»
2
CATHERINE KRUMMEY: Binging on film noir in TCM's 'Summer of …
Next to coming-of-age films and musicals, film noir is one of my favorite movie genres (I've even dressed up as a "deadly dame" for Halloween), ... «Grand Forks Herald, Jul 15»
3
Touch of Evil review – brilliant noir drama restored to Welles's vision
As it returns to cinemas, Michael Newton celebrates his Touch of Evil, the last great film noir of Hollywood's golden age. Read more. Like much ... «The Guardian, Jul 15»
4
Watch: Exclusive Trailer For Jules Dassin's Restored Film Noir Heist …
One of Our 25 All-Time Favorite Heist Movies and ranked on our 10 Best Cannes Film Festival Openers Ever, Jules Dassin's "Rififi" should not ... «Indie Wire, Jul 15»
5
Post-Punk Noir
Seattle post-punk trio Nostalgist is inspired by the atmosphere of film noir — a cinematic movement popular in the mid-twentieth century known ... «Eugene Weekly, Jul 15»
6
'The Spoils Before Dying' on IFC a sendup of classic film noir
Eric JonRosh, the creative genius behind TV's most beloved miniseries of all time, The Spoils of Babylon, graces our screens a year later with ... «Philly.com, Jul 15»
7
TCM's Film Noir “Into the Darkness” Course Study Group: Weeks 4-5
This summer, Turner Classic Movies is presenting a free, online summer school course on the history and themes of film noir. Your film editor is ... «Flavorwire, Jul 15»
8
Palace holds Film Noir summer movie series
This year's collection of screenings are based in the classic Film Noir genre. Films will be shown Fridays and Saturday at 8 p.m., July-August. «The Courier-Journal, Jul 15»
9
A Look at The Striking Low-Key Black-and-White Style of Film Noir
This week, we are taking a look at the visual style heavily relied upon by the film noir genre that was most prevalent in the mid 20th century. «PetaPixel, Jul 15»
10
Film noir classic 'The Third Man' returns to screen
First released in 1949, the esteemed British film-noir movie earned a series of accolades, including the 1949 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film ... «Daily Californian, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Film noir [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/film-noir>. Apr 2024 ».
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