stucco
Americannoun
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an exterior finish for masonry or frame walls, usually composed of cement, sand, and hydrated lime mixed with water and laid on wet.
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any of various fine plasters for decorative work, moldings, etc.
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any of various finishes made with cement, plaster, or mortar, as albarium.
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a wall, facing, molding, or other work made of such materials.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a weather-resistant mixture of dehydrated lime, powdered marble, and glue, used in decorative mouldings on buildings
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any of various types of cement or plaster used for coating outside walls
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Also called: stuccowork. decorative work moulded in stucco
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stucco
1590–1600; < Italian < Langobardic; compare Old High German stucki crust, piece ( German Stück )
Explanation
Stucco is a material that's used to coat ceilings, walls, and the exterior of buildings. If you travel to the southwestern United States, you'll see many homes with stucco exteriors and terra-cotta roof tiles. Stucco is a type of plaster, a substance that goes on as a wet paste and dries hard. In fact, in Italian, stucco means "plaster," from a Germanic source it shares with the Old High German stukki, or "crust." Stucco is mainly decorative, often covering metal or cinderblock, but it's also a weather-resistant coating. While regular plaster is usually smooth and white, stucco is most often textured.
Vocabulary lists containing stucco
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.
At the heart of the compound is the original four-bedroom Spanish Revival mansion, defined by white stucco walls, hand-painted ceilings, and romantic courtyards.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 5, 2026
“There are some houses that are ready to put stucco on. They’ve got roofs and everything,” said the 64-year-old, a second-generation area resident.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026
Completed in 1984, the hangar-like space blended industrial materials — metal cladding, stucco, exposed structure and utilitarian forms — with folded, sculptural masses and cheeky artistic moments.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
Behind them, Gehry designed bulky offices — one clad in dark, rough masonry, the other in irregular white stucco — but they’ve since been overshadowed by the quirky entry sculpture.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 5, 2025
We made a wheels-screeching turn into a subdivision with eight-foot-high stucco walls.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
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.
