lipstick
Americannoun
-
lipsticks
plural
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:
Its factories can supply everything from frozen meat and candy to lipstick, medicine capsules and sports hijabs.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
What to be aware of: Whatever your look, don't share your balm or lipstick.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
In footage posted mid-June, state media showed a Revolutionary Guard member teaching women wearing heavy lipstick how to handle AK-47 assault rifles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The final swipe of lipstick that pulls the whole outfit together.
From Salon ● Apr. 26, 2026
“My wife—no matter where we went—she wore red lipstick as bright as a stoplight. I always wanted to kiss her, but I knew I’d get that junk all over my face.”
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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
In an interview with WWD, the “Rockin’ Years” singer said the collection will be inclusive with lipsticks coming in a “Coat of Many Colors.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2024
Unlike modern lipsticks, it was probably applied with a brush, say the international team of scientists.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2024
Mr. Wells took matter into his own hands, blending lipsticks and eye shadows with palettes intended for white skin tones so they would work for his Black clients.
From New York Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
She bought false eyelashes, foundation, liner, blush, powder, brushes, three different lipsticks, two shadows, and a small but expensive makeup box.
From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart
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.
