matte

¹

Or mat,

[mat]

adjective

1. having a dull or lusterless surface.

   matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.

noun

1. a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.

2. a tool for producing such a surface.

3. Metallurgy.,  an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, especially those of copper.

4. Movies.,  matte shot.

verb (used with object)

matted, matting 

1. to finish with a matte surface.

matte

²

[mat]

noun

Mining.

1. a mass of timber caved beneath overburden so as to cushion the fall of the overburden and separate it from mineral to be extracted beneath.

matte

¹

/ mæt /

noun

1. an impure fused material consisting of metal sulphides produced during the smelting of a sulphide ore

matte

²

/ mæt /

noun

1. films television a mask used to blank out part of an image so that another image can be superimposed

Word History and Origins

Origin of matte¹

First recorded in 1640–50; from French mat (masculine), matte (feminine), Old French, from Late Latin mattus “moist, soft, weak,” perhaps from unattested maditus, derivative of Latin madēre “to be wet”

Origin of matte²

< German; akin to mat ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of matte¹

C19: from French

Example Sentences

Lay’s is redoing the bags too, ditching the crinkly sheen for a heavier, matte finish emblazoned with pictures of potatoes and chips.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Thanks to a melange of practical effects, matte paintings, miniatures, models and costly, groundbreaking special effects, Donner achieved a superhero movie that looks unlike anything made in the decades since.

Read more on Salon

Where “Cross” might be said to have a matte finish, “The Day of the Jackal,” created by the Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett, is high-gloss.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

The magazines are sometimes oversized and increasingly matte finished, filled with edge-to-edge photographs and literary heaves.

Read more on New York Times

Over the last two years, I’ve drenched the bathroom in glossy navy, bisected an office with teal and mustard, painted the stairwell a bright, matte powdery pink.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• cloudy 
• cold 
• dark 
• dim 
• dismal 
• flat 
• hazy 
• lifeless 
• muddy 
• muted 
• obscure 
• soft 
• somber 
• subdued