whore's paint

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈhɔɹzˌpeɪnt/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Noun

whore's paint (uncountable)

  1. (vulgar, derogatory) Excessive, gaudy, or tasteless makeup.
    • 1960, Pietro Di Donato, Three Circles of Light, Messner, page 238:
      See — there is rouge and whore's paint on thy white starched and pleated shirt!
    • 1983, Cathy Cash Spellman, So Many Partings, Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 164:
      'Twas the whore's paint that fooled me, thought Tom. She's no more than twenty-two [...]
    • 1991, Jane Feather, The Eagle and the Dove, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 48:
      I will not have that . . . that whore's paint on my face!"