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sfumato

noun/sfuːˈmɑːtəʊ/

C2CEFR level
93/100Rarity: very rare
TechnicalRegister

A painting technique of blurring outlines through subtle, smoky gradations of tone.

The famous smile owes its ambiguity to Leonardo's delicate sfumato.

Topic: Literature & the arts in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: Literature & the arts