barrette
Americannoun
-
barrettes
plural
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.
See Examples For:
Sharon Lane’s clothes were largely deteriorated, but she had jewelry, a red hair pick and a yellow barrette, and a Life Savers wrapper.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 2, 2022
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
As we were walking out the door, Lily studied my new hairdo—which was half up in a barrette, with the rest hanging down my back.
From "It All Comes Down to This" by Karen English
A trans dad holding his daughter as she excitedly claps to music with a head full of colorful barrettes twinkling under the sun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2023
The nonbinary student, who sometimes wore barrettes and clips in their locks, was allowed back in class under an exemption the judge extended.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 26, 2021
They wear neutral, off-the-rack Banana Republic dresses, while Jane spends most of the movie sporting bright knits, chunky barrettes and florals that pop.
From Salon ● Dec. 1, 2020
Two little girls in matching white skirts and denim shirts, their hair in braids and barrettes, can’t contain their excitement as they race up and down the hallway outside a courtroom.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 20, 2019
“Here I am wearing my lucky bunny barrettes, but I am still thinking that I might faint.”
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
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.
