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:
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
Her uncut hair falls to her shoulders, clipped back with a child’s barrette.
From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2021
And then she saw the glimmer of a bunny barrette, a bunny barrette that was attached to the head of Louisiana Elefante.
From "Raymie Nightingale" by Kate DiCamillo
In 2021, he told a veteran’s daughter, “I love those barrettes in your hair, man.”
From Washington Times ● Nov. 19, 2023
The installation will consist of three 9-foot-tall paper sculptures in the shape of vintage church fans adorned with ball barrettes.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023
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
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
And for a minute, Louisiana almost looked like an angel, with her pink dress and the blue sky lit up behind her and all her barrettes glowing.
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.
