A.Word.A.Day --trompe l'oeil

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Today's Word

trompe l’oeil

PRONUNCIATION:

(tromp loi)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A style of painting in which objects are rendered in extremely realistic detail, giving an illusion of reality.
2. A painting, mural, etc., made in this style.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French, literally “fools the eye”, from tromper (to deceive) + le (the) + oeil (eye). Earliest documented use: 1889.

USAGE:

“The suite had ... an elegant chandelier hung from a trompe l’oeil ceiling of blue sky with puffy clouds.”
William Friedkin; In Search of Marcel Proust; The New York Times Magazine; May 21, 2017.

See more usage examples of trompe l’oeil in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

You have to hold your audience in writing to the very end -- much more than in talking, when people have to be polite and listen to you. -Brenda Ueland, writer (24 Oct 1891-1985)

What they say

“Garg works in the great tradition of Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis... Garg, however, is more fun.”

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Anu Garg on words

“A large vocabulary is like an artist having a big palette of colors. We don’t have to use all the colors in a single painting, but it helps to be able to find just the right shade when we need it.”

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