Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An oily, perfumed hairdressing.
- n. A glossy fabric made from cotton and worsted or cotton and mohair.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A dress-goods for women's wear, similar to alpaca, but superior to it in richness of material and finish.
- n. A name freely and generally employed to designate toilet preparations of variable composition for the face or bair.
Wiktionary
- n. A hair pomade, making the hair shine brilliantly.
- n. A smooth shiny, luxurious fabric, often of alpaca or vicuña.
- v. To apply brilliantine to the hair.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. An oily composition used to make the hair manageable and glossy.
- n. A dress fabric having a glossy finish on both sides, resembling alpaca but of superior quality.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a pomade to make the hair manageable and lustrous
Etymologies
- French brillantine, from brillant, brilliant; see brilliant.
Examples
“Their hair was now loose and tousled, no longer trapped by the macassar oil and brilliantine pomade of former years.”
“After shampooing, brilliantine, which was a rich glossy product, was applied, to give hair a nice sheen.”
“Activating the brilliantine salacioubrooch given to him by the Waarghbeings of the Outer Dark, he quickly teleported to the Egypto-Ugaritic Life-torque meters.”
Things People Like to Write About; Or, This Week is Already Off to a Bad Start
“She thought about the first night Nick had showed up, with the stocky, well-dressed man with hair layered in brilliantine.”
“After her testimony, lobbyists of every persuasion surrounded Gertrudis, vying for her attention in competing clouds of brilliantine.”
“This fellow had gotten on the train at a stop outside Los Angeles; with his "snappy" checked suit and well-oiled hair, pomaded with brilliantine, he evidently thought he cut quite a fine figure and that she should be well aware of the fact.”
“His thick black hair shone with brilliantine, his dark face was shiny with sweat, his eyes were wide with fear.”
“I borrow Nikki's Veniss - girly girl curl, brilliantine aqua, and soft - and attempt to cut through the growth.”
“Loomis was a handsome man in his early forties, starched, eager, with a marvelous handlebar mustache and thin black hair plastered with brilliantine.”
“From her favorite perch atop the forward console, Pip watched from within her brilliantine coils.”
Running From The Deity
mollusque I approached them just as the brilliantine was losing its glutinous power and my hair was again assuming, in slow motion, its vertical position.
--Umberto Eco, 1988, Foucault's Pendulum, p. 114 Sep 29, 2008