Pince-nez

//pænsˈneɪ// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Templeless eyeglasses that clip to the bridge of the nose.

    "Lord Belpher, leaning against the wall and trying to decide whether his right or left foot hurt him the more excruciatingly, became aware that a curate was standing before him, regarding him through a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez with a disapproving and hostile expression."

  2. 2
    spectacles clipped to the nose by a spring wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
nose glassesoxford glasses

Example

More examples

"Lord Belpher, leaning against the wall and trying to decide whether his right or left foot hurt him the more excruciatingly, became aware that a curate was standing before him, regarding him through a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez with a disapproving and hostile expression."

Etymology

Borrowed from French pince-nez (literally “pinch-nose”).

Related phrases

pince-nezed

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.