airbrush
Americannoun
-
airbrushes
plural
verb (used with object)
-
airbrushes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
airbrushed,
past participle, past
-
airbrushing
present participle
-
to paint or decorate, using an airbrush.
to airbrush murals; to airbrush silk kimonos.
-
to remove or alter by or as by means of an airbrush.
to airbrush facial lines from a photograph.
-
to prettify or sanitize.
airbrushed versions of modern history.
noun
verb
-
to paint or varnish (something) by using an airbrush
-
to improve the image of (a person or thing) by concealing defects beneath a bland exterior
an airbrushed version of the government's record
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
airbrushsimple
-
airbrushessimple
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have airbrushedperfect
-
has airbrushedperfect
-
am airbrushingprogressive
-
are airbrushingprogressive
-
is airbrushingprogressive
-
have been airbrushingperfect progressive
-
has been airbrushingperfect progressive
Past
-
airbrushedsimple
-
had airbrushedperfect
-
was airbrushingprogressive
-
were airbrushingprogressive
-
had been airbrushingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of airbrush
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We cannot airbrush French Jews out of the republic's family photo".
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
He was also a steely, secretive poser who worked overtime to airbrush his image.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025
And we used a cream for the hands, which was slightly different to the face, which was in an alcoholic airbrush sort of material.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024
Working in both oil and acrylic, she has experimented with different ways of applying and adjusting paint, sometimes using a silicone dish sponge, other times creatively wielding an airbrush.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2024
But some uncomfortable facts are hard to airbrush.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2023
He borrowed airbrushes from his fellow students, who would also give him their pencil stubs instead of tossing them out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
The multiplayer-focused game has players dousing maps with a variety of weaponized painting tools, ranging from paint rollers to airbrushes.
From The Verge ● Feb. 2, 2022
But I don’t want their image of their father to be a work of posthumous fiction that airbrushes out all his other truths.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2016
The heads surround the table where Amy Johnson airbrushes skin, lips and eyes.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 4, 2014
"The danger to me of seeing everything from the '60s as a concrete monstrosity worthy of demolition is that it airbrushes out a whole period of history and architecture."
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2014
You find yourself in your kitchen holding a pint of strawberries that look airbrushed, but taste like wet air.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
Internet sleuths were suspicious of the band's airbrushed photos, which featured non-descript backgrounds and a warm orange filter.
From BBC ● Nov. 21, 2025
Sophie and Arpad have airbrushed their problematic pasts from their official back stories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
Keen-eyed fans will spot that Gotham City Police Department is actually the Liver Building's clock tower, although the giant Liver Bird was airbrushed out.
From BBC ● May 9, 2025
The airbrushed apron said so in a neon.yellow-and-green font against a black background that matched the sign.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
He also started diligently airbrushing or painting over photographs of the deceased: “I paint out all the abrasions, cuts and bruises, and open the eyes,” he explained, essentially resurrecting a likeness of the victim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026
Enrika said these brands sometimes often use tactics in campaigns to virtue-signal being inclusive - such as highlighting stretch marks on plus-sized models, whilst airbrushing them on others.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2025
And, in fashion, celebration often means airbrushing, literally or figuratively.
From Washington Post ● May 1, 2023
The airbrushing was so over-the-top, the eyes so blue, the lips so rouged, that he looked like a porcelain doll.
From New York Times ● Oct. 28, 2022
Her personal obsession with airbrushing developed from there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
