rouge

¹ American  

[roozh] / ruʒ /

noun

1. any of various red cosmetics for coloring the cheeks or lips.

2. a reddish powder, chiefly ferric oxide, used for polishing metal, glass, etc.

3. Canadian football.

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verb (used with object)

rouged, rouging

1. to color with rouge.

verb (used without object)

rouged, rouging

1. to use rouge.

rouge ² American  

[roozh] / ruʒ /

adjective

French.

1. red; noting the red numbers in roulette.

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rouge British  

/ ruːʒ /

noun

1. a red powder, used as a cosmetic for adding redness to the cheeks

2. short for jeweller's rouge

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verb

1. to apply rouge to

Other Word Forms

• unrouged adjective

Etymology

Origin of rouge

1475–85; < French: red < Latin rubeus; akin to red ¹

Explanation

When your grandma says she's "putting her face on" in the morning, what she means is that she's swiping lipstick on her mouth and dabbing plenty of rouge on her cheeks. Rouge is any kind of red or reddish-colored makeup that's used for tinting a person's cheeks. The word rouge can also refer to the red color itself, or it can be a verb, which you'd use to say, "Grandma, you're uneven — you forgot to rouge your left cheek." The root of rouge is the Latin word rubeus, which itself means "red". A common mistake is to confuse the words rouge and rogue, which means a scoundrel.

Example Sentences

I scooped up a pét-nat rouge, a rosé and a red blend on my way out of town at Yakima’s Apple Valley Emporium, a combination skateboard and bottle shop.

From Seattle Times • May 18, 2024

Joel Embiid will wear red, white and blue in Paris next summer - not rouge, blanc and bleu.

From Washington Times • Oct. 5, 2023

Regardless of how the tradition took hold, experts agree that cheese is rarely happily paired with vin rouge.

From Salon • Feb. 20, 2023

Previous coronations have had historic roles such as the "rouge dragon pursuivant", "unicorn pursuivant" and carriers of the "golden spur" and the "white wand".

From BBC • Jan. 21, 2023

Mami’s rouge was streaked, and her eyes were swollen.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago