oeuvre

noun

oeu·​vre ˈu̇-vrə How to pronounce oeuvre (audio)
ˈər-, 
ˈə-, 
ˈœ- How to pronounce oeuvre (audio)
plural oeuvres ˈu̇-vrə How to pronounce oeuvre (audio)
ˈə(r)-, 
ˈœ- How to pronounce oeuvre (audio)
Synonyms of oeuvre
: a substantial body of work constituting the lifework of a writer, an artist, or a composer
a catalogue of Rembrandt's oeuvre
scrupulously examines Dickens' oeuvre in order to demonstrate how his convictions helped to determine the shape of his novels—G. J. Worth

Synonyms of oeuvre

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of oeuvre in a Sentence

a novel that occupies a relatively minor position in the author's oeuvre
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The series moves focus to the second book in Rice’s oeuvre. — Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2026 So how did a young Czech director end up making a deep dive into him and his oeuvre? — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 25 June 2026 Said another way, constant posting has become the oeuvre of the artist, and thus their personal brand is now the work. — Shanti Escalante-De Mattei, ARTnews.com, 16 June 2026 Ono has also made her mark as a peace activist, and her humanitarianism runs throughout her oeuvre. — Julie L. Belcove, Architectural Digest, 12 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for oeuvre

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, literally, "work," going back to Old French ovre, going back to Latin opera "activity, effort, attention, work," collective derivative from oper-, opus "work, effort, product of labor" — more at opus

First Known Use

1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oeuvre was in 1889

Rhymes for oeuvre

See All Rhymes for oeuvre

Browse Nearby Words

Oeta
oeuvre
of
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Oeuvre.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oeuvre. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All