🇫🇷French Source WordCode: FR

silhouette

Pronunciation / Transliteration: sil-oo-ett

🇬🇧 Direct English Meaning:
Silhouette/ˌsɪluˈɛt/
nounverbCEFR B2 (Upper)Top #4520 frequency
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🇫🇷 Example Sentence in French:

"La silhouette des arbres se découpait contre le ciel."

Comprehensive Definitions & Senses

2 senses
As noun
  1. 1

    A dark shape or outline of someone or something visible against a lighter background.

    "The silhouette of the mountains was striking against the sunset."
  2. 2

    A representation of someone or something in a solid color, typically black, showing only the outline.

    "The artist created a beautiful silhouette of the dancer."

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Antonyms & Contrasting Words (1)

Linguistic Origin & Historical Etymology

Derived from the mid-18th century French phrase 'à la silhouette', named after Étienne de Silhouette, the French Controller-General of Finances in 1759, whose austere economic policies led to cheap portrait outlines. The term evolved from meaning a cheap paper cut-out profile to describing any dark outline or shadow seen against a lighter background.

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