marcel
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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a marcelling.
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a marcelled condition.
noun
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Gabriel 1887–1973, French philosopher, dramatist, and critic.
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a male given name.
noun
verb
noun
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
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The cynical theatrical population dared the visitors to rearrange its smooth marcel into a prickly pompadour.
From Time Magazine Archive
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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
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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
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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
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Last week Jonah Uden was pronounced capable of waving, marcelling, bobbing, shingling and shampooing.
From Time Magazine Archive
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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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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.