Noir

//ˈnwɑɹ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Film noir. uncountable
  2. 2
    A production in the style of film noir. countable

    "Several noirs, including “Raw Deal,” have been set here."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to film noir, or the atmosphere associated with that genre

    "As a neo-Sherlock Holmes, however, Mulder is also a very noir version of the classic detective (just as Scully is a very noir Watson)."

Synonyms

All synonyms
noirishnoirish

Example

More examples

""Double Indemnity" is the title of a classic 1944 film noir, in which a philandering insurance salesman (Fred MacMurray) and a housewife (Barbara Stanwyck) plot to murder her husband, but to make it look like an accident, in order to collect on an insurance policy that will pay double the value in case of accidental death."

Etymology

Shortened from film noir, and from French noir. Doublet of negro.

Related phrases

Nordic noirScandi-noirScandinavian noircabinet noirneo-noirpinot noirretro-noirrouge et noirtartan noirtech noirfilm noir

More for "noir"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.