# trompe l'oeil

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɹɔ̃p ˈlœj/

## Definitions
1. A genre of painting that exploits human vision to create the illusion that the subject of the painting is real.
2. A painting of this kind.

## Etymology
Borrowed from French trompe-l’œil (literally “deceives the eye”), from trompe (“deceives”, third-person singular present indicative of tromper) + l’ (“the”, prevocalic form of le) + œil (“eye”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/trompe-l-oeil