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  • marcel
    marcel
    verb (used with object)
    to wave (the hair) by means of special irons, producing the effect of regular, continuous waves marcel waves.
  • Marcel
    Marcel
    noun
    Gabriel 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.
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Fictional Characters dictionary results for Marcel.

marcel

1 American  
[mahr-sel] / mɑrˈsɛl /

verb (used with object)

marcelled, marcelling
  1. to wave (the hair) by means of special irons, producing the effect of regular, continuous waves marcel waves.


noun

  1. a marcelling.

  2. a marcelled condition.

Marcel 2 American  
[mahr-sel, mar-sel] / mɑrˈsɛl, marˈsɛl /

noun

  1. Gabriel 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.

  2. a male given name.


marcel 1 British  
/ mɑːˈsɛl /

noun

  1. Also called: marcel wave. a hairstyle characterized by repeated regular waves, popular in the 1920s

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to make such waves in (the hair) with special hot irons

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Marcel 2 British  
/ marsɛl /

noun

  1. Gabriel ( Honoré ) (ɡabriɛl). 1889–1973, French Christian existentialist philosopher and dramatist, whose philosophical works include Being and Having (1949) and The Mystery of Being (1951)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of marcel

First recorded in 1890–95; named after Marcel Grateau (1852–1936), French hairdresser who originated it


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 Harlem in “The Back Room” is a site for “fine gowns and tuxedos, marcel waves and glitter.”

From Washington Times ● Jan. 15, 2020

My aunties would come to town from Chicago and get the marcel iron out,” she said.

From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 2018

Lily, his wife, unwilling to muss her new marcel wave before he saw it, waited, and kept ready a hot cup of tea.

From Time Magazine Archive

The cynical theatrical population dared the visitors to rearrange its smooth marcel into a prickly pompadour.

From Time Magazine Archive

Just think!" exclaimed Mrs. Hubbell rapturously, "only three francs for a facial or a manicure and two for a marcel.

From Gigolo by Edna Ferber

"The microbiome is emerging as an important factor in cancer care," said co-senior study author Marcel van den Brink, MD, PhD, chief physician executive at City of Hope.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026

"We expect inflation excluding fresh food and energy to rise further towards 2.5 percent by early next year," said Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

What good is Tolstoy or Marcel Proust to her?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

Written by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel, “Practical Magic 2” is based on the 2021 novel “The Book of Magic,” the fourth and final installment of author Alice Hoffman’s “Practical Magic” series.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

Marcel told me right away that rental cars are best for car wash.

From "Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti" by Frances Temple

Ms. Jackson, in a lilac dressing gown and a marcelled silver wig, digs deep into that contradiction, producing huge laughs from the grim idea that awfulness is a damn good habit as death hovers.

From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2018

Her previously loose and tawny hair is now marcelled and peroxide blond; her glittering but shapeless black gown projects the expensive glamour of a society matron.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 14, 2017

She has a string of imitators, most prominently Katy Perry, who has unabashedly appropriated Ms. Von Teese’s femme fatale persona, down to her loosely marcelled waves and winged eyeliner.

From New York Times ● Nov. 24, 2012

The grain in its flat fields waves as if marcelled.

From Time Magazine Archive

Perhaps that’s why, standing there on the porch, unmindful of her behind, she easily believed that what was coming up the steps toward her was another true-as-life Dorcas, four marcelled waves and all.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Last week Jonah Uden was pronounced capable of waving, marcelling, bobbing, shingling and shampooing.

From Time Magazine Archive

Like women sitting for two hours under the marcelling irons only to wonder two days later how soon they would need another appointment.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

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