fig leaf

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fig leaf ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the leaf of a fig tree.

a representation of a fig leaf, used as an ornament in architecture, as a cover for the genitalia on a statue or in a painting, etc.

something intended to conceal what may be considered indecorous or indecent: to approach the facts of life with the fig leaves of roundabout expressions.

Nearby words

Origin of fig leaf

First recorded in 1525–35

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fig leaf

I would not give a fig or a fig-leaf to know the truth of it, as far as any man can teach it me.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems|Walter Savage Landor
And so for a while she made pride serve as fig-leaf to her nakedness.
The Pace That Kills|Edgar Saltus
It was also in the Spring that Eve wearied of her fig-leaf toque.
The Foolish Almanak|Anonymous
It is the entire unveiling of a human heart; the tearing off of the fig-leaf covering of its sin.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)|John Greenleaf Whittier

He laughed weakly at the recollection, for she had been as innocent of garb as Eve before the fig-leaf adventure.
The Red One|Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for fig leaf

fig leaf

noun

a leaf from a fig tree

a representation of a leaf, usually a vine leaf rather than an actual fig leaf, used in painting or sculpture to cover the genitals of nude figures

a device intended to conceal something regarded as shameful or indecent

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

fig leaf

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of fig leaf

Examples from the Web for fig leaf

fig leaf

noun