Definition of "chef-d'oeuvre" [chef•-d'œuvre]

• A masterpiece, especially in literature or art. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In 1974, only a couple of years after Kubrick abandoned "Napoleon" to the snows of time, Burgess wrote a novel, "The Napoleon Symphony," that might have been devised as a reproach to Kubrick for never calling him to enliven his unmade chef-d'oeuvre."
• "Unfortunately, their chef-d'oeuvre wasn't that good."
• "For many, "In Cold Blood" -- in which he sacrificed facts on the altar of art and showed less empathy for the victims than for their murderers -- is his chef-d'oeuvre."