varnish
Americannoun
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varnishes
plural
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a preparation consisting of resinous matter, as copal or lac, dissolved in an oil oil varnish or in alcohol spirit varnish or other volatile liquid. When applied to the surface of wood, metal, etc., it dries and leaves a hard, more or less glossy, usually transparent coating.
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the sap of certain trees, used for the same purpose natural varnish.
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any of various other preparations similarly used, as one having India rubber, pyroxylin, or asphalt as its chief constituent.
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a coating or surface of varnish.
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something resembling or suggesting a coat of varnish; gloss.
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superficial polish or external show, especially to conceal some defect or inadequacy.
The play has a varnish of witty dialogue.
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British. nail polish.
verb (used with object)
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varnishes,
present (3rd person singular)
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varnished,
past participle, past
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varnishing
present participle
noun
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Also called: oil varnish. a preparation consisting of a solvent, a drying oil, and usually resin, rubber, bitumen, etc, for application to a surface where it polymerizes to yield a hard glossy, usually transparent, coating
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a similar preparation consisting of a substance, such as shellac or cellulose ester, dissolved in a volatile solvent, such as alcohol. It hardens to a film on evaporation of the solvent See also spirit varnish
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Also called: natural varnish. the sap of certain trees used to produce such a coating
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a smooth surface, coated with or as with varnish
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an artificial, superficial, or deceptively pleasing manner, covering, etc; veneer
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another word for nail polish
verb
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to cover with varnish
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to give a smooth surface to, as if by painting with varnish
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to impart a more attractive appearance to
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to make superficially attractive
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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varnishsimple
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varnishessimple
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have varnishedperfect
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has varnishedperfect
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am varnishingprogressive
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are varnishingprogressive
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is varnishingprogressive
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have been varnishingperfect progressive
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has been varnishingperfect progressive
Past
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varnishedsimple
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had varnishedperfect
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was varnishingprogressive
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were varnishingprogressive
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had been varnishingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of varnish
1300–50; Middle English varnisch < Middle French vernis, verniz < Medieval Latin vernicium sandarac < Medieval Greek bernī́kē, syncopated variant of Greek Berenī́kē, city in Cyrenaica
Explanation
Varnish is a shiny coating that's painted on a floor or piece of furniture and then dries clear and luminous. After refinishing an old oak chair, you might apply a coat of varnish. (Just don't sit on it until it's dry.) Varnish gives artwork, furniture, and other objects a finished, glossy look, and it also protects the surface. Most varnish is made from oil, solvent, and resin. You can also use the word as a verb, meaning "to coat with varnish." Many people decide to varnish their wood floors or their wooden kitchen counters. The Medieval Latin root word is vernix, "odorous or fragrant resin."
Vocabulary lists containing varnish
Stroke of Genius: Words About Painting
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The Stranger
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The Princess Bride
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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:
A tiny stamp, “52,” painted beneath layers of varnish on the painting’s top left corner, didn’t match any known art inventories, either.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
“I did my best to strip the varnish away,” Sheff writes.
From Salon ● Mar. 28, 2025
By mixing this material with varnish, it could be applied as a paint.
From Science Daily ● May 2, 2024
“It really felt like you were in Stradivarius’s workshop — the smells of varnish, there’s parts of violins everywhere. It’s like he was the Willy Wonka of the violin.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
The varnish dripped in globs down the side.
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
Göransson has scored every Coogler picture since his 2009 student film “Locks,” and he never merely varnishes them with music in postproduction — he is truly Coogler’s co-author.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2025
Coating fossils with varnishes and/or lacquers was the norm in the past and sometimes is still necessary to preserve a fossil specimen in museum cabinets and exhibits.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 16, 2024
He then paints them with natural pigments – purple is made of crushed bugs, for example – and varnishes them with the sap of piñon, the stocky pine tree that dots the countryside.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 29, 2023
MTV’s picture of the art world varnishes the sheer desperation and insecurity found at almost every level of the game.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2023
Its surface was then carefully water-proofed with suitable varnishes, and the work was completed.
From Voyage of the Paper Canoe A Geographical Journey of 2500 miles, from Quebec to the Gulf of Mexico, during the years 1874-5. by Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes) Bishop
She rushed off to have her nails varnished at her favorite salon, which was destroyed in the mall strike but has reopened in a building nearby.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
His family, who had arrived from the Philippines in droves to celebrate his 50th birthday, beamed from the first several rows of glossy, varnished pews.
From Salon ● Mar. 31, 2024
They were stripped of paint, polished and varnished for their second life.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
A quick way to see whether something is laminated or varnished is to tear it, she explained.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
It looked to me like somebody had cut the black Mary’s picture from a book, glued it onto a sanded piece of wood about two inches across, and varnished it.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Ironically, the 1974 varnishing and warm wax relining had helped keep the surface paint in place when the violent ripping happened.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2022
Shipwrights and volunteers will be recorking about 4,000 linear feet of seams on deck, conducting mechanical systems maintenance, painting and varnishing.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 28, 2022
And we applaud university officials who aren’t varnishing their words.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2019
The “patent” in patent leather means the varnishing and drying process, not a registration with the U.S. governmental office.
From Slate ● May 28, 2014
They went on with their work of sanding or varnishing the newly finished benches, but they didn’t talk.
From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes
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.
