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charm school

American  

noun

  1. a school for teaching the social graces, grooming and dress, etc.


Etymology

Origin of charm school

First recorded in 1945–50

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:

For extra income, he worked home-repair jobs and she started a charm school to teach Black girls how to model.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

Fans of the 1992 movie might remember the scenes detailing the makeup and “look” required of players and the charm school they attended.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2022

By 2012, she had started running a charm school for transgender youths, providing lessons in etiquette and comportment while instilling confidence and strength in her students.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 27, 2022

Those few members who knew how to handle Vanreenen would chide him, “Ah, Major, I see you’ve been to charm school again.”

From Golf Digest ● May 5, 2020

“The surprising thing is,” said Violet, “when he flunked out of charm school, it was because he couldn’t learn the minuet.”

From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson

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