maquillage means makeup, cosmetics, or its application, especially in theatrical or excessive use.
maquillage is pronounced /makiˈ(j)ɑːʒ/.
Why “maquillage” is a great word
The artful application of cosmetics, particularly when executed with theatrical weight or professional deliberation. From French *maquillage*, derived from *maquiller* ("to apply makeup, to disguise"), which descends from Old French *maquier* ("to stain, to make"), possibly rooted in a Frankish or Middle Dutch source connoting preparation and making. Unlike "makeup" (the common, functional substance) or "cosmetics" (the manufactured products themselves), *maquillage* insists upon the transformative craft of application. It is the thick pancake base of the kabuki performer, the precisely drawn kohl line that restructures a bone, the lipstick applied with a brush at dawn for no audience but the mirror—a practiced artifice that constructs a truer self for the world to see.
Etymology
Borrowed from French maquillage.
noun
- Makeup, cosmetics, or its application, especially in theatrical or excessive use.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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