matte

or mat, matt

[mat]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR matte ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

having a dull or lusterless surface: matte paint; a matte complexion; a photograph with a matte finish.

noun

a dull or dead surface, often slightly roughened, as on metals, paint, paper, or glass.

a tool for producing such a surface.

Metallurgy. an unfinished metallic product of the smelting of certain sulfide ores, especially those of copper.

Movies. matte shot.

verb (used with object), mat·ted, mat·ting.

to finish with a matte surface.

Origin of matte

1640–50; < French mat (masculine), matte (feminine), Old French < Late Latin mattus moist, soft, weak, perhaps < *maditus, derivative of Latin madēre to be wet

matte

[mat]

noun Mining.

a mass of timber caved beneath overburden so as to cushion the fall of the overburden and separate it from mineral to be extracted beneath.

Origin of matte

< German; akin to mat¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for matte

flat, uninspired, boring, muted, ho-hum, subdued, dim, muddy, somber, hazy, dark, lifeless, dismal, cloudy, cold, soft, obscure, bland, stale, weak

Examples from the Web for matte

Contemporary Examples of matte

The shell is a combination of matte and shiny plastics, but it still feels like a solid piece of hardware.
PlayStation 4 Review: The PS4 and the Gorgeous Next Generation of Gaming
Alec Kubas-Meyer
November 15, 2013
The real Chloë is notorious for wearing beige and houndstooth and orange, matte lipstick, and sarcastic chunk wedges.
Becoming Chloë Sevigny
Drew Droege
August 18, 2011
Then, the merkin is applied with an adhesive; Ledermann uses a matte substance by Telesis.
Hollywood's Most Private Accessory
Claire Howorth
September 20, 2010

Historical Examples of matte

Matte Enamel, medium weight; Enameled, medium weight; Velvet, medium weight.
Bromide Printing and Enlarging
John A. Tennant
There was once a fisherman who was called Salmon, and his Christian name was Matte.
The Lilac Fairy Book
Andrew Lang
Matte and Maie grew fat on this fine living, and daily became richer.
The Lilac Fairy Book
Andrew Lang
The German term in the Glossary for panes ex pyrite is stein, the same as the modern German for matte.
De Re Metallica
Georgius Agricola
Three products result: (a) slag; (b) matte; (c) copper-gold-silver alloy.
De Re Metallica
Georgius Agricola

British Dictionary definitions for matte

matte

noun

an impure fused material consisting of metal sulphides produced during the smelting of a sulphide ore

Word Origin for matte

C19: from French

matte

noun

films television a mask used to blank out part of an image so that another image can be superimposed

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

Word Origin and History for matte

"backing for a picture," 1845, from French; see mat (n.2).

variant of mat (n.2).