What does "mask" mean?
A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
Mask
/mɑːsk/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
- Grammar: mask is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: aegis, affectation, air, alibi.
- Useful contrasts: bare surface, expressive exercise, glaring.
- Usage evidence: The man wore a mask of a tiger.
How to use "mask"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mask" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mask" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mask" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mask" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "mask" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aegis" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "mask", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A cover, or partial cover, for the face, used for disguise or protection.
"a dancer's mask; a fencer's mask; a ball player's mask"
- 2 Mesh.
- 3 Mash. UK, dialectal
- 4 activity that tries to conceal something wordnet
- 5 That which disguises; a pretext or subterfuge.
"Grouchy and wary and tender, he’s a sozzled hedonist seemingly out for himself—though his party-animal facade is just a mask for his bottomless generosity."
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 The mesh of a net; a net; net-bag. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 7 a covering to disguise or conceal the face wordnet
- 8 Appearance, likeness. poetic
"Come then, pure hands, and bear the head That sleeps or wears the mask of sleep, And come, whatever loves to weep, And hear the ritual of the dead."
- 9 a protective covering worn over the face wordnet
- 10 A festive entertainment of dancing or other diversions, where all wear masks; a masquerade.
"This thought might lead me through the world's vain mask."
- 11 a party of guests wearing costumes and masks wordnet
- 12 A person wearing a mask.
"the mask that has the arm of the Indian queen"
- 13 A dramatic performance in which the actors wore masks and represented mythical or allegorical characters. obsolete
- 14 A grotesque head or face, used to adorn keystones and other prominent parts, to spout water in fountains, and the like.
- 15 In a permanent fortification, a redoubt which protects the caponiere.
- 16 A screen for a battery.
- 17 The lower lip of the larva of a dragonfly, modified so as to form a prehensile organ.
- 18 A flat covering used to block off an unwanted portion of a scene or image.
- 19 A pattern of bits used in bitwise operations; bitmask.
- 20 A two-color (black and white) bitmap generated from an image, used to create transparency in the image.
- 21 The head of a fox, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
Verb
- 1 To cover (the face or something else), in order to conceal the identity or protect against injury; to cover with a mask or visor. transitive
"They must all be masked and vizarded"
- 2 To mash. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 3 To bewilder; confuse. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 4 put a mask on or cover with a mask wordnet
- 5 To disguise as something else. transitive
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 (brewing) To mix malt with hot water to yield wort. UK, dialectal, transitive
- 7 shield from light wordnet
- 8 To conceal from view or knowledge; to cover; to hide. transitive
"Masking the business from the common eye"
- 9 To be infused or steeped. Cumbria, Durham, Geordie, Northumbria, Scotland, dialectal, transitive
- 10 cover with a sauce wordnet
- 11 To conceal; also, to intervene in the line of. transitive
- 12 To prepare tea in a teapot; alternative to brew. Cumbria, Durham, Geordie, Northumbria, Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 13 hide under a false appearance wordnet
- 14 To cover or keep in check. transitive
"to mask a body of troops or a fortess by a superior force, while some hostile evolution is being carried out"
- 15 To prepare (to storm). Northern-England, Scotland, rare
"I saw the storm was masking fast, That soon wad fa' on me;[…]"
- 16 make unrecognizable wordnet
- 17 To take part as a masker in a masquerade. intransitive
"Come Pentecost as quickly as it will, Some five and twenty years, and then we mask’d."
- 18 To wear a mask. intransitive
"Dr. Shelita Dattani, director of professional affairs at the Canadian Pharmacists Association, says […]. “The efforts that we’re taking to reduce the spread of COVID are working … people are masking and distancing and staying away from each other and using hand hygiene, so I think all of these efforts combined are contributing to lower rates.”"
- 19 To disguise oneself, to be disguised in any way. intransitive, obsolete
"Ioue sometime maſked in a ſhepheards weede, And by thoſe ſteps that he hath ſcal’d the heauens, May we become immortall like the Gods."
- 20 To conceal or disguise one's autism; to learn, practice, and perform certain behaviors and suppress others in order to appear more neurotypical. intransitive
"Masking is exhausting and some autistics require copious amounts of time afterwards to recover from hiding who they are and pretending to be someone they aren't. Even when autistics mask they don't always pass fully as an NT person."
- 21 To cover or shield a part of a design or picture in order to prevent reproduction or to safeguard the surface from the colors used when working with an air brush or painting. transitive
- 22 To set or unset (certain bits, or binary digits, within a value) by means of a bitmask. transitive
"That is, the lower nibble (the 4 bits 1010 = A) has been masked to zero. This is because ANDing anything with a zero produces a zero, while ANDing any bit with a 1 leaves the bit unchanged[…]"
- 23 To disable (an interrupt, etc.) by setting or unsetting the associated bit. transitive
"Some hardware interrupts can be masked, or disabled; that is, the CPU is told to ignore them."
Antonyms
Example
"The man wore a mask of a tiger."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "mask"?
Common synonyms include: aegis, affectation, air, alibi, anaglyph, anonymising.
How do you use "mask" in a sentence?
The man wore a mask of a tiger.
How do you pronounce "mask"?
Pronounced /mɑːsk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from Middle French masque (“a covering to hide or protect the face”), from Italian maschera (“mask, disguise”), from (a byform of, see it for more) Medieval Latin masca, mascha, a borrowing of Proto-West Germanic *maskā, from which English mesh and mask (“mesh”) (below at Etymology 2) are inherited. Doublet of masque and mesh. Replaced Old English grīma (“mask”), whence grime, and displaced non-native Middle English viser (“visor, mask”) borrowed from Old French viser, visier.
Etymology 2
From Middle English maske, from Old English max, masċ (“net”), from Proto-West Germanic *maskā (“mesh, netting, mask”). Doublet of mesh and mask above.
Etymology 3
From Middle English *mask, masch, from Old English māx, māsc (“mash”). Doublet of mash.
Etymology 4
From Middle English masken, short for *maskeren, malskren (“to bewilder; be confused, wander”). More at masker.