minaudière

Or min·au·diere

[mee-noh-dyair, mee-noh-dyer]

noun

plural

minaudieres 

1. a small, sometimes jeweled case for a woman's cosmetics or other personal objects, often carried as a handbag.

Word History and Origins

Origin of minaudière¹

First recorded in 1935–40 (earlier in sense “coquette”); from French minaudière originally, “coquette, person with affected manners,” noun use of feminine of minaudier “affected,” equivalent to minaud(er) “to have an affected manner” (verbal derivative, with -aud adjective suffix, of mine “facial expression,” probably from Breton min “muzzle”) + -ier; ribald, -ier ²

Example Sentences

Per Vogue, there’s Hubert de Givenchy’s 1953 “salt white” dress embroidered with sliced tomatoes, Cynthia Rowley’s 1993 tomato-printed rayon dress and Judith Leiber’s tomato rhinestone minaudière circa 1994.

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A small clutch evening bag or minaudiere is being sold with two 10-cent coins, eight Philip Morris cigarettes and a used Revlon lipstick in the shade "Bachelor's Carnation," a vibrant red hue.

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There are also accessories, consisting of white leather sneakers, a black folio for men and an envelope clutch and minaudière for women.

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The price tag for the gold, rose-shaped minaudière: $4,995.

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Lhuillier also showed more of her own shoes, and for the first time, minaudiere bags.

Read more on Los Angeles Times