Rouge Meaning
/ˈɹuːʒ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjOf a reddish pink colour.
nounRed or pink makeup to add colour to the cheeks; blusher.
Sentence Examples
Expressions and smiles change like that just from applying rouge and lipstick.
The Khmer Rouge often used parables to justify their contradictory actions.
What say'st thou—slanderer !—rouge makes thee sick ?
CEFR Practice Quiz
She applied a small amount of ____ to her cheeks to add color.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She applied a touch of ____ to her cheeks before stepping onto the stage.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 4, in Crime out of Mind:
"[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"
— 1832 November 19, “On Eton Games, Continued”, in Eton College Magazine, number viii, page 284:
"The 7 got 1 "gaol" and 1 "ruge"; the 11 got 1 "gaol" and 4 "ruges""
— 1840 November 29, C. Pepys, “[Letter to the editor]”, in Bell's Life in London^(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Football_(Bells_Life_in_London)_1840-11-29.png), page 4:
"A rouge is obtained by touching the ball first, after it has been kicked behind"
— 1847, H.H. Tremayne, A.R. Thompson, Field Game Rules^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Laws_of_the_Eton_Field_Game_(1847)):
"A rouge is obtained by the player who first touches the ball after it has been kicked between the rouge flags"
— 1862, Laws of the Sheffield Foot-Ball Club^(https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Sheffield_Rules_(1862)):
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She applied a small amount of ____ to her cheeks to add color.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She applied a touch of ____ to her cheeks before stepping onto the stage.