tonsorial
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of tonsorial
1805–15; < Latin tōnsōri ( us ) of shaving ( tond ( ēre ) to shave + -tōrius -tory 1, with dt > s ) + -al 1
Explanation
Use the adjective tonsorial when you need a fancy way to talk about barbers. Want to cut hair when you grow up? Tell your parents you're going into the tonsorial field. Even though tonsorial sounds like it has something to do with tonsils, the words are completely unrelated. Tonsorial comes from the Latin tonsorius, "of or pertaining to shearing or shaving." You're most likely to encounter this adjective in a humorous or overly formal context, and it can describe anything that has to do with cutting hair or shaving.
Vocabulary lists containing tonsorial
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.
There may even be one of those two-inch ponytails that were popular in the late 80s in there somewhere – it is hard to see in the general tonsorial disorder.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 1, 2019
There is Edgar with the Mariners, Edgar in the All-Star Game, Edgar in all his incarnations and stages of tonsorial evolution.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 15, 2019
We’d gathered Monday, with the Franklin family’s blessing, to behold a trove of all kinds of genius — physical, musical, oratorical, sartorial, tonsorial, metaphysical — the most staggering genius, of course, being Franklin’s.
From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2018
As for the mustache, it’s nothing short of a tonsorial stunner, so big and scene-stealing you start to wonder if it should qualify as one of the murder suspects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 9, 2017
But as I was about to say, his greatest accomplishments have been along tonsorial lines.”
From Silver and Gold A Story of Luck and Love in a Western Mining Camp by Coolidge, Dane
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.
