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special effect

special effect

67 3.7
An image or sound used in film to show something that cannot be done in real life
  • noun
  • /ˈspɛʃəl ɪˈfɛkt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : efecto especial
  • Your special effects are terrible.
  • create special effects
  • add special effects
  • music and special effects

So we are sending Lizzie through special effects makeup to try and trick Link.

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Examples

  • You make your living creating and photographing special effects.

  • Strobe light, smoke and other special effects may be used.

  • So you got a little bit of special effects and, you know, cost went up.

  • And it got by on special effects because it had no new ideas, right?

  • You wanna see these special effects I made for Dog Cop 5?

  • I find too often in modern films that the special effects are the special effects.

  • The special effects were spectacular!

  • The show combines live actors, special effects, and a 3-D movie.

    Academic text (2006)
  • Many examples of image corrections and special effects will be presented.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The special effect of the exploding building left the audience in awe during the movie.

Synonyms

effect
vsspecial effect
483 4.8

An impression made to influence people or create a certain look

focuses on artificial image or sound in visual media rather than a general impression
stage effect
vsspecial effect
  • Specialized
3.8

A sound, light, or smoke trick used in a play to make scenes more dramatic

is used to make images or sounds that represent things not achievable normally

How Dramatic

spectacle
68 4.2
pyrotechnics
  • Specialized
7 7.8
special effect
  • Specialized
67 3.7
stage effect
  • Specialized
3.8
sound effect
27 3.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

special + effect

The meaning is directly and transparently built from 'special' (unusual/not ordinary) + 'effect' (an impression or result): a notable/unusual effect, which in context refers to artificially created visuals or sounds. This adj+noun composition is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'efecto especial', French 'effet spécial', Japanese '特殊効果') and should be inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Special effect comes from old theater and early films where people used tricks to make things look 'not real' on stage or screen. The word special meant made for the show and effect meant the result for the audience, so today the phrase means an image or sound 'made artificially' in films, TV, or theater.