: a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music
also
: a film of this type
Examples of film noir in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Taken together, the Warner Archive releases give an immediate sense of just what a versatile filmmaker Walsh was — proficient in the biopic, political drama, war film, romantic comedy, and film noir traditions.
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Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 31 July 2024
Of course, few home movies are made by someone with the wherewithal to cast ‘40s film noir legend Ann Savage as their mother (since Maddin never had footage of the real one), or the vision to structure their remembrances like freeform poetry, complete with rhyming callbacks.
—Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024
Address Unknown The 1944 film noir drama, directed by William Cameron Menzies, is based on Kressmann Taylor’s 1938 novel of the same name.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The city could provide the setting for a 1930s gangster thriller, a medieval fantasy with secret codes and evil monks, a bodice-ripping romance, or a contemporary film noir.
—Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for film noir 
Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 31 July 2024
Of course, few home movies are made by someone with the wherewithal to cast ‘40s film noir legend Ann Savage as their mother (since Maddin never had footage of the real one), or the vision to structure their remembrances like freeform poetry, complete with rhyming callbacks.
—Indiewire Staff, IndieWire, 12 Aug. 2024
Address Unknown The 1944 film noir drama, directed by William Cameron Menzies, is based on Kressmann Taylor’s 1938 novel of the same name.
—Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The city could provide the setting for a 1930s gangster thriller, a medieval fantasy with secret codes and evil monks, a bodice-ripping romance, or a contemporary film noir.
—Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for film noir
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'film noir.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Film noir.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/film%20noir. Accessed 12 Sep. 2024.
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