lampshade

American  

[lamp-sheyd] / ˈlæmpˌʃeɪd /

noun

lampshades plural

1. a shade, usually translucent or opaque, for shielding the glare of a light source in a lamp or for directing the light to a particular area.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• lampshades
  plural

Etymology

Origin of lampshade

First recorded in 1840–50; lamp + shade

Explanation

A lampshade is a decorative cover that diffuses a lightbulb's brightness. Besides looking pretty, lampshades also prevent a light's glare from temporarily blinding you. If the naked bulb on your lamp casts a stark and blinding light, try putting a lampshade on top. This device does just what its name implies, shading the lamp's light in a pleasant way. Lampshades can be made of fabric, plastic, glass, or paper, and they come in an enormous variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. Early 20th-century vaudeville performers created the enduring trope of a man with a lampshade on his head as the wacky life of the party.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

lampshade lampshades

Artemis II mission specialist Christina Koch described the scattering of tiny craters across the daytime side proudly reflecting sunlight, like pinpricks in a lampshade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2026

He was given a piece of a lampshade as evidence to take back to Britain - the original was broken up and, other than the frame, no other parts remained traceable.

From BBC ● May 5, 2025

The garage, in footage captured during his campaign, had multiple cardboard boxes and a lampshade sitting off to the side.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 18, 2023

These are clearly not designed to be hidden in a lampshade but, rather, to be on display as beautiful light bulbs in open fixtures.

From The Verge ● Aug. 26, 2022

The skirt was a green dirndl with tiny black, white and electric-blue shapes swarming across it, and it stuck out like a lampshade.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

She painted delicate flowers, oranges and leaves on glass, leather and even lampshades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Bits of beds, chairs, cookers, lampshades; the glass of broken windows, mirrors, drinking glasses.

From BBC ● Jan. 23, 2025

Take bedding and use pillows, throws, upholstered furniture, wallpaper, art, lamps, moody colors and decorative lampshades.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2023

Her business supplying fabric for lampshades was lucrative but unfulfilling.

From New York Times ● Jun. 30, 2023

She, too, looked around the room, as if she noticed in the lampshades, in the teapot, in the shadows frozen on the carpet, something the rest of them could not.

From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri