war paint

noun

1
: paint put on parts of the body (such as the face) by American Indians as a sign of going to war
2

Examples of war paint in a Sentence

a picture of a chief dressed in a headdress and war paint She piled on the war paint.
Recent Examples on the Web Military news stories throughout the Iraq war paint a similarly sanguine picture. Andrew Shaver, Foreign Affairs, 23 Oct. 2015 In the song’s video, Giz sings to the camera with his face covered in pink war paint, matching his breathtaking pink suit accentuated by blue and green feathers. Millan Verma, New York Times, 13 Feb. 2024 This is my war paint. Kelly Boutsalis, refinery29.com, 22 June 2021 My father used to call it war paint. Jenna Rosenstein, Harper's BAZAAR, 30 Apr. 2021 See all Example Sentences for war paint 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'war paint.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1826, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of war paint was in 1826

Dictionary Entries Near war paint

Cite this Entry

“War paint.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war%20paint. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!