rouge

/ruʒ/

/ruʒ/

Other forms: rouged; rouges; rouging

When your grandma says she's "putting her face on" in the morning, what she means is that she's swiping lipstick on her mouth and dabbing plenty of rouge on her cheeks.

Rouge is any kind of red or reddish-colored makeup that's used for tinting a person's cheeks. The word rouge can also refer to the red color itself, or it can be a verb, which you'd use to say, "Grandma, you're uneven — you forgot to rouge your left cheek." The root of rouge is the Latin word rubeus, which itself means "red". A common mistake is to confuse the words rouge and rogue, which means a scoundrel.

Definitions of rouge

1. noun

   makeup consisting of a pink or red powder applied to the cheeks
   synonyms: blusher, paint

   type of:

   make-up, makeup, war paint

   cosmetics applied to the face to improve or change your appearance
2. verb

   redden by applying rouge to
   “she rouged her cheeks”

   type of:

   make up

   apply make-up or cosmetics to one's face to appear prettier