Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

five and nine

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.77 in modern English

Syllables: five and -nine
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Basic facial greasepaint makeup.

Informal; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Not much "beautiful dignity" about her now! she thought, looking at her smudged eyes and the tracks her tears had made in carefully applied five and nine. Her black tin box of makeup — her most treasured possession — sat before her, […]"
"[…] before many years had passed I would be plastered in the greasy 'five and nine' cosmetics beloved of the theatrical profession."
"The sticks of Leichner were notoriously hard and difficult to spread. […] In theatre dressing rooms the hot bulbs surrounding the actors' mirrors were often streaked with five and nine, which helped to soften the stuff."

Etymology

From the product numbering used by the Leichner cosmetics company.

Usage

Questions

What does five and nine mean?: Basic facial greasepaint makeup.
Where does five and nine come from?: From the product numbering used by the Leichner cosmetics company.

How to pronounce five and nine

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “five and nine”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
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