varnish
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
vahrnishSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈvɑɹnɪʃ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface
A clear or translucent liquid coating composed of resin dissolved in a solvent, which dries by evaporation to form a hard, protective, and typically glossy finish.
Anything resembling such a coating; a glossy appearance.
figurativelyby extension
A deceptively showy appearance.
verb
transitive
To make something superficially or deceptively attractive
transitive
To gloss over a defect.
intransitive
To apply varnish.
transitive
To cover up with varnish.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Formality
- Technical
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A coating that provides a hard, lustrous, transparent finish to a surface
Used this way, varnish is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Large tree native to southeastern Asia.
Small Asiatic tree yielding a toxic exudate from which lacquer is obtained.
A cosmetic lacquer that dries quickly and that is applied to the nails to color them or make them shiny.
A thin varnish made by dissolving lac in ethanol.
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.