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:
Nonfarmale’s transfer was deemed perfectly done, but discolored varnish was removed, holes and cracks were repaired, and, as is modern practice, restored areas were made congruent with the rest by delicate watercolor cross-hatching.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The researchers envision the treatment being available in two forms: a daily-use toothpaste or a professional gel applied by dentists, similar to nail varnish.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 10, 2025
I cubed the steak and browned it hard in my cherry red Dutch oven, watching it cast off its fat and leave behind a savory varnish on the enamel.
From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2025
The artwork was coated with a dark varnish and accumulated dirt over the years, giving the false impression it depicts a night scene.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2024
One of the best things about Mr. Woodwell’s boat shed is the clean smell of wood shavings and varnish.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
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
Evidence is produced not only of oils in use, and the methods of purifying them, but of varnishes, and recipes for making them, likewise of the colours used.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various
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
She told MPs that this included a “foetal skeleton posed under a glass dome, a human thigh bone turned into a cane, a human jawbone necklace and the varnished skull of a six-year-old”.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2024
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
It is three stories tall, with beige stucco walls and wide fieldstone panels flanking a varnished oak front door with leaded glass.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
