lacquer
Americannoun
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a protective coating consisting of a resin, cellulose ester, or both, dissolved in a volatile solvent, sometimes with pigment added.
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any of various resinous varnishes, especially a resinous varnish obtained from a Japanese tree, Rhus verniciflua, used to produce a highly polished, lustrous surface on wood or the like.
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Also called lacquerware. Also called lacquer ware,. ware, especially of wood, coated with such a varnish, and often inlaid.
They collected fine Japanese lacquers.
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Slang. any volatile solvent that produces euphoria when inhaled.
verb (used with object)
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to coat with lacquer.
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to cover, as with facile or fluent words or explanations cleverly worded, etc.; obscure the faults of; gloss (often followed byover ).
The speech tended to lacquer over the terrible conditions.
noun
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a hard glossy coating made by dissolving cellulose derivatives or natural resins in a volatile solvent
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a black resinous substance, obtained from certain trees, used to give a hard glossy finish to wooden furniture
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Also called: varnish tree. an E Asian anacardiaceous tree, Rhus verniciflua, whose stem yields a toxic exudation from which black lacquer is obtained
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Also called: hair lacquer. a mixture of shellac and alcohol for spraying onto the hair to hold a style in place
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art decorative objects coated with such lacquer, often inlaid
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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lacquersimple
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lacquerssimple
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have lacqueredperfect
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has lacqueredperfect
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am lacqueringprogressive
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are lacqueringprogressive
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is lacqueringprogressive
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have been lacqueringperfect progressive
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has been lacqueringperfect progressive
Past
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lacqueredsimple
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had lacqueredperfect
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was lacqueringprogressive
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were lacqueringprogressive
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had been lacqueringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lacquer
1570–80; earlier leckar, laker < Portuguese lacre, lacar, unexplained variant of laca < Arabic lakk < Persian lâk lac 1
Explanation
Lacquer is a clear liquid that is painted on a surface and dries hard and shiny. Lacquer can be used to protect wood. Wooden furniture or art objects made from wood are sometimes coated with lacquer. The lacquer makes the wood glossy and protects it from scratches and nicks. In Eastern Asia, there is a tradition of making decorative objects called "lacquerware," boxes, buttons, and other items that are made of wood and coated in lacquer. Lacquer comes from a now-obsolete French word, lacre, a type of sealing wax, and is ultimately rooted in the Sanskrit laksha, "red dye."
Vocabulary lists containing lacquer
Clean Getaway
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The Red Pony
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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:
The Georgian-style, brick and stone home offers an array of gorgeous details, like glossy wood and stone floors, red lacquer walls in the formal dining room, and numerous fireplaces.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 25, 2026
The barrels -- bound tightly with rope, their fabric skins stiffened and darkened with lacquer -- inevitably recall the Gulf's vast hydrocarbon wealth.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
Ms. Kondo illustrates mottainai through art forms that evolved from the spirit of preservation—including kintsugi, or the painstaking process of repairing broken pottery with a combination of lacquer and gold.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
She’s offset the building’s cement with a childhood baby grand piano and her grandmother’s lacquer vanity with pearl inlay.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 20, 2025
Gradually the wood softened and came free, and Mary was left with the single sheet of clear brown-yellow lacquer, about the size of a page from a paperback book.
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
Traditional paint on canvas was often sidelined in favor of modern industrial materials such as poured resin, ground glass, lacquers and microfilm coatings.
From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2024
Coating fossils with varnishes and/or lacquers was the norm in the past and sometimes is still necessary to preserve a fossil specimen in museum cabinets and exhibits.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2024
Technological advancements have further opened up design possibilities, introducing unique materials such as flexible stone cladding, fingerprint-resistant matte lacquers, fluted wood veneers and lightweight metal paneling.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2024
VOCs are often associated with man-made chemicals, and are off-gassed from certain drying paints and lacquers.
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 2021
The strong odor of the colored lacquers can be smelled out on the sidewalk, even with the door shut.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
“Stone and hardwood floors, high ceilings, a high tech kitchen features lacquered wood cabinetry and Miele appliances,” reads the listing, which is held by Myra Nourmand of Nourmand & Associates.
From MarketWatch ● Jan. 16, 2026
Some like their ham thickly lacquered, others prefer a more restrained finish.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2025
Above it sits a dome of 112 overlapping and intertwined lacquered rose-gold leaves.
From New York Times ● May 9, 2024
He’s of average height and as taut in demeanor as his lacquered, high fade haircut.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
She had brought along her pottery, her silver, heirlooms like the kimonos Granny had brought from Japan, tea sets, lacquered tables, and one fine old set of china, blue and white porcelain, almost translucent.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
As I wrote in a recent article, I'm a proponent of lacquering bacon with the sweet-and-savory combo of maple syrup and white miso, which is the perfect complement to its salty, pork-y, smoky essence.
From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2023
He works on multiple tigers at a time and employs two or three people to help with sanding, lacquering and finishing tasks, he said.
From Reuters ● Jan. 25, 2022
“Manolo will be in the kitchen cooking his wonderful cuisine, and I’ll be in the larder, lacquering my Louis Vuitton cases with yacht varnish, bringing them to a high shine.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2022
“Manolo will be in the kitchen cooking his wonderful cuisine, and I’ll be in the larder, lacquering my Louis Vuitton cases with yacht varnish, bringing them to a high shine,” he tells me.
From The Guardian ● May 23, 2020
Bridget sat on the toilet lid, lacquering her nails with ballet pink, the radio perched behind her on top of the tank.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
