an arrangement of a man's hair in which it is brushed up high from the forehead.
an arrangement of a woman's hair in which it is raised over the forehead in a roll, sometimes over a pad.
a pink or crimson color.
Textiles.
any fabric, as cotton or silk, having a design of small pink, blue, and sometimes gold flowers or bouquets on a white background.
a fabric of the color pompadour, used for garments.
First recorded in 1745–55; named after the Marquise de Pompadour
A pompadour is a dramatic hairdo that's swept back from the forehead and worn in a high, rolled style. Elvis Presley was almost as famous for his pompadour as for his music. This iconic hairstyle was originally made popular by a mistress of King Louis XV of France, Madame de Pompadour. Chic 18th-century women wore pompadours, and the style was fashionable again in the late 1800s and then in the 1940s. Movie stars of this last era, from Betty Grable to Bette Davis, frequently sported pompadours. For maximum height, hair would be "ratted," or backcombed, and covered with a swoop of hair on top.
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The 1759 portrait of Madame de Pompadour by François Boucher is one of the most beautiful examples, richly embodying all of these themes.
From Salon • Jul. 15, 2024
Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV of France during the 1740s and 1750s, used the color as a signature.
From National Geographic • Jul. 21, 2023
Another flower holds secrets in its petals to the love story of Louis XV, an obsessive botanist, and his mistress Madame de Pompadour.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2023
Aided by Madame de Pompadour, the 18th-century French thinker offends Louis XV with a play.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2021
Nearby ladies cup their hands to each other's ears and whisper and giggle and frown at Astrid Pompadour.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
