noir

1 of 2

noun

ˈnwär 

1

: crime fiction featuring hard-boiled cynical characters and bleak sleazy settings

an example of classic noir

2

: film noir

a comedy dressed in the trappings of an edgy noir

noirish

ˈnwär-ish 

adjective

noir

2 of 2

adjective

: having a bleak and darkly cynical quality of the kind associated with hard-boiled crime fiction and film noir

a noir thriller

In this boldly styled first novel, Komarnicki follows a 30-year-old homeless man on a noir odyssey of death and survival through the streets of New Orleans and Hong Kong.

—Sybil S. Steinberg

The plot of this violent fairy tale is as noir and nasty as the characters.

—Marilyn Stasio

Examples of noir in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Hiddleston has also become one of the most bankable stars of his generation, starring in televisual noirs like The Night Manager and as the mischievous Norse god Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. — Zing Tsjeng, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026

With this convention, noir wedded its core theme, inescapable destiny, to the form of cinematic storytelling. — Harmon Siegel, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026

My idea of Sweden was based entirely on Scandi-noir dramas, all bleak landscapes, depressed people and woolly jumpers. — Natasha Langan, TheWeek, 29 Sep. 2026

But this sleekly miserable noir about the aftermath of a feckless man’s confrontation with his wife’s younger lover transports the stuff of archetype into Putin’s Russia. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 14 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

short for film noir

First Known Use

Noun

1977, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1958, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing noir

• beurre noir
• film noir
• pinot noir

Rhymes for noir

• moire
• boudoir