🖼️ Image editing 🎨 Spray painting

airbrushing

2 4.1

Changing photos to make people look better or remove things you do not want seen

noun
/ˈɛrˌbrʌʃɪŋ/

: retoque

Both Adele and Kate Winslet have gotten mad at magazines for it (off the top of my head), and I believe Lady Gaga has spoken out about excessive airbrushing.

Examples

So why is airbrushing supposed to be so wrong, but push-up bras, Spanx, and makeup are cool?

Blog text (31)
- Amazing what a little airbrushing can do.

Cover-Up (1991)
Every photo needs color correction or some airbrushing.

Blog text (10)
Let the airbrushing continue.

Blog text (10)
I think the issue is more that Madonna is so airbrushed in everything, and then people only get to see her at a distance on stage. To see her without the airbrushing is a shock.

Blog text (31)
Many celebrities admit to using airbrushing to enhance their magazine covers.
The photographer spent hours airbrushing the portraits to remove blemishes and imperfections.
Some critics argue that excessive airbrushing creates unrealistic beauty standards in advertising.

Synonyms

post-processing

vsairbrushing

Specialized

1 4.4

Editing or finishing things like photos and objects after they are made to improve quality

focuses specifically on improving photographs and removing unwanted details

How Altered

manipulation

130 5.5

airbrushing

2 4.1

editing

126 2.7

Surface Forms

airbrushing singular

airbrushings plural

Morphology

airbrushing = airbrush (semi-transparent) = air + brush + ing

Built from the verb 'airbrush' + '-ing'; the magazine sense (digital photo retouching) extends the physical technique, so the relationship is clear but somewhat shifted.

Etymology

Airbrushing comes from the tool airbrush, a name that joins air and brush because it 'sprays' paint with air like a very fine brush. Because photographers and editors used this tool to 'smooth' or 'hide' flaws in pictures, airbrushing now means changing images to improve looks or remove unwanted details.