lipstick
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of lipstick
Explanation
Lipstick is makeup that makes your lips look darker, redder, or shinier. Your French teacher might be famous in your school for her heart-shaped glasses and bright pink lipstick. Some people like to wear lipstick every day, while others save it for fancy occasions. Most lipstick is a waxy, slightly creamy substance in a stick that's tinted with red pigment that colors your lips. It's a cosmetic that dates back at least to medieval times, and probably even farther back than that. In the 1600s, a fashionable look for upper class European women was a pale white face and bright red lipstick.
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:
One young woman calmly reapplied her lipstick in front of a line of riot police.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Listening to “The Boutique,” I feel like I should be smoking a cigarette and drinking the dirtiest martini known to man in a speakeasy, wearing a drop waist silk dress and bright red lipstick.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
The items include unpublished photographs, a script with notes from her final production, the unfinished short film "Something's Got to Give," and personal items such as handwritten recipes and her Elizabeth Arden lipstick.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
Counseled by a grandmother to look like a lady — “don’t go out without lipstick on” — Blevins ultimately moved in with an older sister, choosing cheerleading over the school band.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
Then a tall Elder with short black hair and red lipstick stepped forward and hugged him.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Charlotte Tilbury, the celebrity makeup artist and cosmetics entrepreneur, is famous for her Magic Cream, Pillow Talk lipsticks and Golden Goddess eye shadow.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Over martinis at Figaro, my friends pull out their lipsticks and glosses one by one.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 21, 2024
"But now the lipsticks and make-up go unworn, and clothes are no longer of interest, especially the leopard print."
From BBC ● Mar. 21, 2024
In July, cookie cutters shaped like lipsticks and convertible cars picked up steam, thanks to Barbie mania.
From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2023
“They no longer roam through the towns, hunting for mischief. They are in uniform, marching with the Hitler Youth. They have no time for cigarettes, dancing, flasks, lipsticks, automobiles, or movies.”
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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.
