auteur

noun

au·​teur ō-ˈtu̇r How to pronounce auteur (audio)
-ˈtər
1
: a film director whose practice accords with the auteur theory
broadly : director sense c
2
: an artist (such as a musician or writer) whose style and practice are distinctive
auteurist adjective or noun

Examples of auteur in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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His leadership might well have elevated those sections, but to stock the main competition (and new Encounters competitive section) with the same rule-bending auteurs was to rob Berlin of its most vital dimension: a populist connection with German locals. Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Feb. 2025 Even for South Korea’s uniquely genre-agnostic top auteurs, the career of Min Kyu-dong has been relentlessly diverse and adventurous. Kevin Cassidy, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Feb. 2025 Isaacs says there’s few better auteurs to explore this stuff than White, who first conceived of Lotus and writes and directs every episode. Charlie Campbell / Koh Samui, TIME, 14 Feb. 2025 Working with the top auteurs of their day week in and way out clearly made an impact on Deutch, who absorbed their lessons into his DNA and applied them elegantly to his modest film about a girl in love with a boy from the other side of the tracks. Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 14 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for auteur

Word History

Etymology

French, originator, author, from Old French autor, from Latin auctor — more at author

First Known Use

1962, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of auteur was in 1962

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Cite this Entry

“Auteur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/auteur. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.

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