Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A preparation, such as powder or a skin cream, designed to beautify the body by direct application.
- n. Something superficial that is used to cover a deficiency or defect.
- adj. Serving to beautify the body, especially the face and hair.
- adj. Serving to modify or improve the appearance of a physical feature, defect, or irregularity: cosmetic surgery.
- adj. Decorative rather than functional: cosmetic fenders on cars.
- adj. Lacking depth or significance; superficial: made a few cosmetic changes when she took over the company.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to beauty; beautifying; improving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion. Also cosmetical.
- n. Any preparation that renders the skin soft, pure, and white, or helps or professes to be able to help to beautify or improve the complexion.
- n. The art of anointing or decorating the human body, as with toilet preparations, etc.
Wiktionary
- adj. External or superficial; pertaining only to the surface or appearance of something.
- n. Any substances applied to enhance the external color or texture of the skin, e.g. lipstick, eyeshadow, eyeliner; makeup.
- n. A feature existing only on the surface.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Imparting or improving beauty, particularly the beauty of the complexion.
- n. Any external application intended to beautify and improve the complexion.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a toiletry designed to beautify the body
- adj. serving an esthetic rather than a useful purpose
- adj. serving an aesthetic purpose in beautifying the body
Etymologies
- French cosmétique, from Greek kosmētikos, skilled in arranging, from kosmētos, well-ordered, from kosmein, to arrange, from kosmos, order.
Examples
“In fact, even the term cosmetic dentists was virtually new to me.”
“You know, irregulars, what they call cosmetic blemished items used to account for a real large percentage of what was sold at outlets.”
“Mohamed ElBaradei, a leading opposition figure, expressed support for continued protests and condemned what he called "cosmetic change" in government as an "insult to the revolution.”
“Suzanne Smith, (D-Hebron) wants the state government to regulate the use of weed and insect control products to limit what she calls cosmetic use.”
“The fellow works closely with physicians who specialize in cosmetic surgery and with additional oculoplastic surgeons.”
“Interaction with different services at the Center for Human Appearance at both the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia provides an opportunity for learning "cutting edge" techniques involving concepts in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.”
“Officially, the FDA has this to say about the phrase: A cosmetic is considered misbranded if its safety has not adequately been substantiated, and it does not bear the following conspicuous statement on the PDP:”
“He represents triangulation resulting in cosmetic solutions.”
“OASIS will initially focus on certifying ingredients used in cosmetic/personal care products but will likely branch out to include sustainable practices and packaging.”
“She's an announcer on the Soap Channel, with a good voice, but bad taste in cosmetic surgery.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘cosmetic’.
Comments
No comments yet...
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.