lampshade
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lampshade
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
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:
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
Available in three sizes and five colors, the Mágico is a hand-built and painted stoneware lamp and lampshade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 27, 2024
Inspired by ordinary objects like a lampshade or well-worn coat, Burch set out to redefine the form of her designs with this collection.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 12, 2024
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
He had managed to balance himself on the small blue-and-green globe that was at the center of the lampshade.
From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo
Brick walls and exposed piping contrast with wooden furniture, white couches and floor cushions and the warm glow of Noguchi lampshades.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2025
From the ceiling hung a twisted glass chandelier by Eric Dunn, its spiked lampshades mimicking the tendrils of a brain’s dendrites.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2024
Her firm also frequently uses window coverings and lampshades woven from natural grasses for their visual warmth.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 8, 2024
She notes BioKnit is already being used by designers to make lampshades, for example.
From BBC ● Dec. 7, 2023
Dirty socks and underwear hung off the lampshades.
From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan
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.
