pomade
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of pomade
1555–65; earlier pommade < French < Italian pomata (so called because apples were originally an ingredient), equivalent to pom ( a ) apple (< Latin, plural (taken in VL as feminine singular) of pōmum fruit) + -ata -ade 1. See pomatum
Explanation
Pomade is a greasy kind of styling product for your hair. Are your curls a mess? You might want to apply some pomade to tidy them up. Now mostly thought of as old-fashioned, pomade is still around and used by those who want a slicked-back or wet-look hairdo. Unlike modern hair products such as spray, gel, and mousse, pomade doesn't dry. You can even keep pomade in your hair through several washings, because it's so waxy. The word itself comes from the Italian word for "apple," pomo, thanks to the inclusion of mashed apples in the original pomade recipe.
Vocabulary lists containing pomade
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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The Color Purple
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"St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell
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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:
We were close enough that I could smell the pomade coming off that immaculate pompadour.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 16, 2025
Because bathing kiwis in a dressing tames their fuzz, just like pomade smooths frizzed hair on a humid day.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2021
If Dad has yet to find his preferred hair product, he might enjoy this pomade, which was purportedly used by the likes of Elvis Presley and James Dean.
From Slate ● Dec. 9, 2020
That prison soap must be suffused with argan oil – either that or Robbins’ scalp secretes pomade, given his lustrous locks are more solid than those securing the cell doors.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 8, 2020
“So that people’s pomade doesn’t stain the seat back,” she answered.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
A bantam alpha, gut sucked into his chest, shoulders padded out like a linebacker, hair center-parted and pomaded back; the little creep who makes nothing but takes a fee on it anyway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2020
Our hair is pomaded with sweat and stone dust.
From The New Yorker ● May 23, 2019
Stefano, 9, is rocker-ready with his hair dyed red and pomaded up into a Mohawk.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2018
Vulnerable he may be, but when the series began, this delicate flower was encased within a pomaded veneer of self-obsession and materialism, a lack of social grace and a distinctly adolescent approach to women.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 29, 2012
The boys hung back, their pomaded hair and scrubbed faces serious, their pressed pants making them look as stiff as paper dolls.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
