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:
She opened Josh’s pomade and blew a snot booger into it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Because bathing kiwis in a dressing tames their fuzz, just like pomade smooths frizzed hair on a humid day.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2021
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
He’d showered and powdered his neck — the smell of talc and the pomade he sometimes used to brush his hair sweetening the old leather of the seats.
From New York Times ● Sep. 17, 2019
“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
Stefano, 9, is rocker-ready with his hair dyed red and pomaded up into a Mohawk.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2018
Her male foil in the film, Gary Cooper, was by contrast something of a pomaded stiff, uncomfortably awaiting the introduction of the talking pictures that would usher in his mellow yet authoritative drawl.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2017
When he received a guest, he stood still, long arms slack, hair pomaded, a portrait of take-it-or-leave-it composure that induced his visitor to cross the room in pursuit of a handshake.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 30, 2015
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.
