clown white

American  

noun

Theater.

1. white facial makeup used by performers, as clowns.

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Example Sentences

But “Boss” trowels on the clown white, strenuously reaching for nonexistent yuks instead of trusting in the talent of its likable but ill-used cast.

From Washington Post

Consider the scene—my body: hidden under the Sephora smock; my face: foundation and contour; bronzer and blush; brows, eyeliner, bright blue and clown white eyeshadow; lip-liner and lipstick and gloss; highlight; and lashes.

From Slate

His face painted clown white, a carrot-red wig combed into a pompadour, Dafoe gives a performance that lies somewhere between the Joker from “Batman” and Joel Grey’s M.C. from “Cabaret.”

From New York Times

But Malcolm X came out looking like a clown — white skin, cherry-red lips, dots of rouge — and Frederick Douglass disappeared under a rain of scribbles.

From New York Times

A small circus troupe travels along a country road and a clown, white from head to foot, brings up the rear riding on a donkey.

From Time Magazine Archive