Antonyms for silhouette

Grammar : Noun

Spell : sil-oo-et

Phonetic Transcription : ˌsɪl uˈɛt

Definition of silhouette

Origin : 1798, from French silhouette, in reference to Étienne de Silhouette (1709-1767), French minister of finance in 1759. Usually said to be so called because it was an inexpensive way of making a likeness of someone, a derisive reference to Silhouette's petty economies to finance the Seven Years' War, which were unpopular among the nobility. But other theories are that it refers to his brief tenure in office, or the story that he decorated his chateau with such portraits.
Silhouette portraits were so called simply because they came into fashion in the year (1759) in which M. de Silhouette was minister. [A. Brachet, "An Etymological Dictionary of the French Language," transl. G.W. Kitchin, 1882]
Used of any sort of dark outline or shadow in profile from 1843. The verb is recorded from 1876, from the noun. The family name is a Frenchified form of a Basque surname; Arnaud de Silhouette, the finance minister's father, was from Biarritz in the French Basque country; the southern Basque form of the name would be Zuloeta or Zulueta, which contains the suffix -eta "abundance of" and zulo "hole" (possibly here meaning "cave").

noun outline

Example sentences :

When he rose from his chair his body came in silhouette against their light.
Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith

At one window he saw Charles Phillips' silhouette; he was reading, apparently.
Extract from : « Shavings » by Joseph C. Lincoln

The silhouette on the mantelpiece is of aunt Mercy, his mother's unmarried sister.
Extract from : « Whittier-land » by Samuel T. Pickard

Then the silhouette seemed to float down out of sight, and was gone.
Extract from : « The Plunderer » by Roy Norton

Then the old man's form appeared in silhouette against the dark.
Extract from : « Astounding Stories of Super-Science, May, 1930 » by Various

"Gault has some reason for not wanting his silhouette touched," he said.
Extract from : « The 4-D Doodler » by Graph Waldeyer

Leaning over, she marvelled at the silhouette of her own slim figure.
Extract from : « The Dragon Painter » by Mary McNeil Fenollosa

Pete produced the silhouette of a young lady, and handed it round.
Extract from : « A Window in Thrums » by J. M. Barrie

The silhouette disappeared, and, shortly afterwards, the gray luminance.
Extract from : « The Yellow Claw » by Sax Rohmer

She saw the silhouette of rose branches in black on the sky.
Extract from : « The Coast of Chance » by Esther Chamberlain

Synonyms for silhouette

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019