lipstickn.
/ˈlɪpstɪk/, U.S. /ˈlɪpˌstɪk/ 1. A stick of cosmetic for colouring the lips, usually a shade of pink or red; hence, cosmetic for the lips. Also attributive.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > [noun] > cosmetics for the face > cosmetics for the lips
lipsalve1591
lip balm1853
lipstick1880
chapstick1891
lip pencil1904
lip-rouge1926
lip gloss1939
lippy1955
1880 E. James Amateur Negro Minstrel's Guide 4 Prepared burnt cork, ready for use, 25 and 50 cents per box; lip sticks, 25 cts.
1880 E. James Amateur Negro Minstrel's Guide 8 An application of lipstick..around the natural part of the lips will extend that feature to a size quite remarkable.
1919 H. L. Wilson Ma Pettengill iii. 93 Metta was even using a lip stick!
1922 A. Bennett Lilian ii. vii. 116 She also knew what was the best lip~stick.
1924 Glasgow Herald 7 July 8/7 Here is a lipstick; there a downy nest Of lamb's wool puffs.
1926 Spectator 18 Sept. 435/2 What is the matter with powder, paint and lipstick?
1942 D. Powell Time to be Born x. 222 She applied a lipstick brush tenderly.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics xiii. 521 Many are packaged in..devices resembling lipstick cases.
1965 W. H. Auden About House (1966) 46 Spotless rooms..Chill me, so do cups used for ashtrays or smeared With lipstick.
1973 Country Life 20 Sept. 831/2 I liked..the clear colours and good texture of the lipsticks.
1974 ‘J. Ross’ Burning of Billy Toober xii. 113 There were two gilt lipstick cases.
2. A shade of red.
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1927 Daily Express 14 Mar. 5/3 Lipstick—Pillar-box red renamed.
Derivatives
ˈlipstick v. (transitive and intransitive) to apply lipstick to (one's lips).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > beautify the face [verb (intransitive)] > apply cosmetics to the lips
lipstick1926
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > beautify (the face) [verb (transitive)] > apply cosmetics to the lips
lipstick1926
1926 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Apr. 24 She..had recently lipsticked a red mouth into startling contrast to her natural pallor.
1931 Daily Tel. 21 May 13/3 They chatted, smoked, ‘lipsticked’, read, sewed, [etc.].
1960 20th Cent. Oct. 313 She would open her handbag, lipstick her mouth, and go home.
1966 J. B. Priestley Salt is Leaving i. 5 Sheila stopped lipsticking.
ˈlipsticked adj.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > [adjective] > covered with lipstick
lipsticked1928
lipsticky1931
1928 Sunday Express 15 Apr. 15/4 She may be made of wax, with large, liquid eyes, a lipsticked mouth, and real hair.
1969 Daily Tel. 5 Sept. (Colour Suppl.) 46/3 My eyes are still wandering over that lip-sticked mouth.
1974 Listener 17 June 69/1 Jonathan Miller used to imagine the BBC as an actual aunt, powdered and lipsticked and getting on in years.
ˈlipsticking n.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > [noun] > applying cosmetics > applying lipstick
lipsticking1940
1940 A. G. Macdonell Crew of Anaconda xxi. 260 Florinda did a little powdering and lipsticking.
ˈlipsticky adj. covered or sticky with lipstick; also figurative.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the face > [adjective] > covered with lipstick
lipsticked1928
lipsticky1931
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > feebly sentimental
snivelling1673
namby-pamby1733
namby-pambical1761
treacly1800
namby-pambyish1825
keepsaky1871
soapy1889
keepsake1898
lipsticky1931
corny1932
gloppy1976
1931 Punch 28 Oct. 476/3 Her chronicle of minor adventures, if occasionally a shade too lip-sticky for all tastes, is thoroughly vivacious and entertaining.
1933 J. B. Priestley Wonder Hero vi. 249 The first thing she did was to give Charlie a large smacking lip-sticky kiss.
1949 Landfall June 183 The lipsticky essays of her daughter into informed adolescence.
Draft additions June 2015
Darts slang. With the. The treble twenty on a dartboard.Apparently so called because this section of the dartboard is commonly coloured red and its curved shape can be fancifully likened to an upper lip.
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2003 Racing Post 28 July 83 It's safe to say he's chucking well with the arrers finding the lipstick.
2008 J. Irwin Murder on Darts Board viii. 187 All nine darts had been within a centimetre of the ‘lipstick’ (treble 20 is always red).
2009 G. Silberzahn Darts Beginning to End ix. 133 We notice the miss of the third dart and it becomes really an issue when the first two are in the lipstick, since an opportunity for a ton eighty gets away.
2014 P. Taylor Staying Power (Electronic ed.) vii I pepper the lipstick again with another 180, only for Adrian to step up and return the compliment.
Draft additions August 2001
lipstick lesbian n. colloquial (originally U.S. and sometimes derogatory) a lesbian of glamorous or manifestly feminine appearance and behaviour.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > a homosexual person > female > whose appearance, behaviour, or identity is regarded as traditionally feminine
bitch1923
Margery1936
femme1947
Marge1957
mom1957
lipstick lesbian1983
1981 Bay Area Reporter 24 Dec. 19/2 The B.A.R. photographer arrived, and Robin rummaged in her purse. ‘I'm a lipstick-lez,’ she confided with a mischievous laugh.]
1983 Bay Area Reporter 27 Oct. 27/1 If you wanted to be with it, you simply had to be a Lipstick Lesbian who advocated Gay Rights.
1994 This Mag. (Toronto) Nov. 12 All these gorgeous women are getting into it, from the elegant lipstick lesbians to the post-punk baby dykes.
2000 Daily Record (Glasgow) (Electronic ed.) 21 Oct. One minute she is a glam high-flying gun toting gangster's moll, the next she is a lipstick lesbian in a nasty blue uniform selling ciggies on a garage forecourt.
lipstick lesbianism n.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual orientation > homosexuality > [noun] > specifically between women > specific
lipstick lesbianism1993
1993 Evening Standard (Nexis) 9 Nov. 25 kd lang, Nashville's first lady of lipstick lesbianism.
1995 Daily Tel. 16 May 19/6 Ever since pretty young Beth Jordache first kissed her lady tutor on Brookside, gay girls have become rather fashionable..and the opportunity to write about ‘lipstick lesbianism’ and ‘designer dykes’ has not gone unseized.
2001 Sunday Herald (Glasgow) 1 Oct. (Directory section) 6/4 The current vogue for lipstick lesbianism, which sees apparently straight stars..dabbling on-screen in same-sex snogging.
Draft additions June 2016
colloquial (originally and chiefly U.S.). to put lipstick on a pig: to (seek to) make minor or superficial improvements to something considered fundamentally unappealing or inadequate. Frequently in like putting lipstick on a pig.
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1985 Washington Post 16 Nov. c1/1 The board of supervisors..asked if they couldn't use the money to renovate Candlestick Park. ‘That,’ replied KNBR personality Ron Lyons, ‘would be like putting lipstick on a pig.’
1995 N.Y. Times 24 Mar. a22/2 Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado called them ‘cosmetic amendments’ and said: ‘It's like putting lipstick on a pig. When you're through, you still have a pig.’
2009 W. Swanton Murderball iii. ix. 201 He downplays his slick attire by suggesting you can put lipstick on a pig but when all is said and done, it remains a pig.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1880