airbrush
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to paint or decorate, using an airbrush.
to airbrush murals; to airbrush silk kimonos.
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to remove or alter by or as by means of an airbrush.
to airbrush facial lines from a photograph.
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to prettify or sanitize.
airbrushed versions of modern history.
noun
verb
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to paint or varnish (something) by using an airbrush
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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
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airbrushsimple
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airbrushessimple
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have airbrushedperfect
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has airbrushedperfect
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am airbrushingprogressive
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are airbrushingprogressive
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is airbrushingprogressive
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have been airbrushingperfect progressive
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has been airbrushingperfect progressive
Past
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airbrushedsimple
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had airbrushedperfect
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was airbrushingprogressive
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were airbrushingprogressive
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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
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
All the work in the show is made with automotive paint and using the technique of airbrush painting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
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
‘He knew that I airbrushed and was also thinking about how the mechanics of a car machine resemble parts of the human body — are kind of extensions of them in some way.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2025
Sophie and Arpad have airbrushed their problematic pasts from their official back stories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025
A girl in a gorgeous gold retro dress, blue braids, and makeup that looked airbrushed on walked by, proving her point.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
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
But unlike traditional airbrushing, which at least began with a real person, these AI models are digitally created to look perfect, free from human flaws, inconsistencies or uniqueness.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 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
And they would immortalize these things with a specific technique: airbrushing.
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.
