barrette
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of barrette
From French, dating back to 1900–05; see origin at bar 1, -ette
Explanation
A barrette is a clip or pin that holds a small amount of hair away from your face. You might be especially fond of your butterfly-shaped barrette. Barrettes are partly useful — they can keep hair out of your eyes — and partly ornamental. Young children sometimes wear brightly colored plastic barrettes in their hair, while adults tend to stick to more sedate, simple barrettes. The word barrette is a diminutive form of the French barre, "bar," after the size and shape of the typical barrette.
Vocabulary lists containing barrette
Power Suffix: -ette
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El Deafo
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Moxie
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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.
A blue velvet box bearing a label "bracelets of Queen Marie Antoinette" holds the double bracelets, each composed of three strings of diamonds and a large barrette clasp, for a total of 112 diamonds.
From Reuters • Nov. 3, 2021
Hair was wound into a tight bun or frizzed-out, perhaps accented by golden heart barrette, lightly folded like butterfly wings.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 22, 2021
Before she left the United States to compete in the Olympics, Athing Mu spied a hair barrette in a department store.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 2021
Shannon unclipped the barrette in her hair and tilted her head forward, revealing a bald spot the size of a silver dollar.
From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2017
"Or what if the barrette belongs to somebody else with the initial N?"
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
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.
