brunette

[broo-net]

See more synonyms for brunette on Thesaurus.com

adjective

(of hair, eyes, skin, etc.) of a dark color or tone.
(of a person) having dark hair and, often, dark eyes and darkish or olive skin.

noun

a person, especially a female, with such coloration.

Origin of brunette

1705–15; < French; feminine of brunet

Related formsbru·nette·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for brunette

brown, brunet, dusky, swarthy, tawny, pigmented, swart, tanned

Examples from the Web for brunette

Contemporary Examples of brunette

In April, the 19-year-old brunette in an emerald gown was crowned Miss Honduras.
The Shocking Death of Miss Honduras
Romina Ruiz-Goiriena
November 19, 2014
Whether we are fat, skinny, tall, short, blonde, or brunette, should not define us as women.
Plus-Size Model, Jennifer Maitland: Get Over the Word ‘Fat’
Jennifer Maitland
May 14, 2014
The tabloid battle between the sweet blonde and the brunette vixen played out like an issue of Betty and Veronica on crack.
Real-Life Couples on Screen: Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone, Brangelina, and More
Amy Zimmerman
May 1, 2014
There was Blondie on has right and a lovely Italianate brunette on the other side.
The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis
Richard Ben Cramer
January 11, 2014
A pretty girl with brunette hair, Dima sits curled up in an apartment in Midyat with her mother and her 16-year-old sister, Marie.
Syria’s Christians Flee Kidnappings, Rape, Executions
Jamie Dettmer
November 19, 2013

Historical Examples of brunette

A brunette selects a blonde and a blonde a brunette, as a general rule in matrimony.
Life: Its True Genesis
R. W. Wright
Yet it would be unfair to call the brunette beauties of Tanoa savages.
Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2)
William Delisle Hay
I told him, after consulting you, the story of the letter—of the brunette—everything.
Against Odds
Lawrence L. Lynch
I had found that the brunette, like myself, was in disguise.
Against Odds
Lawrence L. Lynch
You have thought too much of the blonde and not enough of the brunette!
Against Odds
Lawrence L. Lynch

British Dictionary definitions for brunette

brunette

noun

a girl or woman with dark brown hair

adjective Also: brunet

dark brownbrunette hair

Word Origin for brunette

C17: from French, feminine of brunet dark, brownish, from brun brown, of Germanic origin; see brown

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for brunette

adj.

1660s, from French brunette (masc. brunet), from Old French brunet "brownish, brown-haired, dark-complexioned," fem. diminutive of brun "brown" (12c.), of West Germanic origin (see brown (adj.)). As a noun, "woman of a dark complexion," from 1710. The metathesized form, Old French burnete, is the source of the surname Burnett. Burnete also was used of a wool-dyed cloth of superior quality, originally dark brown.