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Glite Dictionary
🎭 White makeup 🤡 A clown type 🐄 A cattle breed
whiteface

whiteface

3 8.4
Makeup that makes the face very white used by clowns and mimes
  • noun
  • /ˈwaɪtfeɪs/
: maquillaje blanco
  • At the festival, many performers wore whiteface to portray classic comedic characters.
  • whiteface makeup
  • put on whiteface

Examples

  • Is it okay that Big Al went whiteface for his costume?

    Blog text (31)

  • It's masks, whiteface, highly emotional, physical work.

  • During the performance, the clown applied whiteface makeup to enhance his pale appearance.

  • The actor's whiteface made his expressions more exaggerated and visible to the audience.

Synonyms

makeup
vswhiteface
586 1.3

Products you put on your face to change how you look

is a specialised theatrical application that makes the face look very pale
make-up
vswhiteface
139 2.0

Things people put on their face or body to change how they look

is specifically used on the face to create a very pale theatrical look

Surface Forms

whiteface singular
whitefaces plural

Morphology

whiteface = white + face (transparent) = white + face

Used to refer to the white makeup itself; the nominal meaning is directly linked to 'white' + 'face' and is easily inferred.

Etymology

Whiteface meaning the makeup comes from white and face, and it is the white paint performers put on to make a 'white face' on stage. So using whiteface makes the face look very pale and helps actors and mimes show their expressions clearly.