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

In the original production, all of the characters but the Nubian were made up completely with clown white or "Plexo," the eyebrows and eyes outlined in black and mouths rouged but slightly.

From Project Gutenberg

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