What does "rouge" mean?
Red or pink makeup to add colour to the cheeks; blusher.
Rouge
/ɹuːʒ/ adj, name, noun, verb
adj, name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Red or pink makeup to add colour to the cheeks; blusher.
- Grammar: rouge is listed as adj, name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: blush, blusher, abrasive, any color.
- Useful contrasts: bare skin, colorless, colorless pigment.
- Usage evidence: Expressions and smiles change like that just from applying rouge and lipstick.
How to use "rouge"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "rouge" 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 "rouge" 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 "rouge" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "rouge" 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 "rouge" is acting as adj, name, 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 "blush" 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 "rouge", 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 Red or pink makeup to add colour to the cheeks; blusher. countable, uncountable
"Before we could embark on the details of his mother's health we were joined by a fair, plump woman of indefinite age, who had once been—and at moments still was—very pretty. She wore a simple black silk dress, perhaps in deference to Tilly's death, though the note of mourning was jarred by flamboyant aquamarine ear-rings and too much rouge."
- 2 makeup consisting of a pink or red powder applied to the cheeks wordnet
- 3 Any reddish pink colour. countable, uncountable
- 4 A single point awarded when a team kicks the ball out of its opponent's end zone, or when a kicked ball becomes dead within the non-kicking team's end zone. Etymology uncertain; it is thought that in the early years of the sport, a red flag indicated that a single had been scored. Canadian, countable, uncountable
- 5 In the Eton wall game, a scrummage, melée. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"[A] wall [...] against which all those formidable "rouges" (as they are most underivably called) take place; in which above twenty players contend, kicking each others' shins nearly as often as the ball"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 In the Eton College field game, a scoring move accomplished by touching the ball down behind the opponents' goal-line (somewhat similar to the try in rugby). Originally, the player who scored the rouge had a chance to kick a goal, and the rouge was used as a tie-breaker if an equal number of goals was scored by each side. In the contemporary Eton College field game, a five-point score is awarded for kicking the ball so that it deflects off one of the opposing players and goes beyond the opposition's end of the pitch, and then touching the ball. countable, uncountable
"The 7 got 1 "gaol" and 1 "ruge"; the 11 got 1 "gaol" and 4 "ruges""
- 7 From 1862 to 1868, a similar scoring move in Sheffield rules football. From 1862 to 1867, accomplished by touching the ball down after it had been kicked between two "rouge flags" either side of the goal. From 1867-1868, awarded for kicking the ball between the rouge flags and under the crossbar. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"A rouge is obtained by the player who first touches the ball after it has been kicked between the rouge flags"
- 8 A red amorphous powder consisting of ferric oxide, used in polishing and as a cosmetic; crocus; jeweller's rouge. archaic, countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To apply rouge (makeup). ambitransitive
"She rouged her face before setting out for the party."
- 2 redden by applying rouge to wordnet
Adjective
- 1 Of a reddish pink colour.
Proper Noun
- 1 A neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- 2 A surname from French.
Example
"Expressions and smiles change like that just from applying rouge and lipstick."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "rouge"?
Common synonyms include: blush, blusher, abrasive, any color, base, blushes.
How do you use "rouge" in a sentence?
Expressions and smiles change like that just from applying rouge and lipstick.
How do you pronounce "rouge"?
Pronounced /ɹuːʒ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Borrowed from French rouge, from Latin rubeus. Compare rare Middle English rouge, rouȝ (“red”); later borrowed again, as it is not attested until c. 1750. The game senses are of unknown origin according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Etymology 2
Borrowed from French Rouge.