moustache
/ˈmʌstæʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.24 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A growth of facial hair between the nose and the upper lip.
Example Sentences
- "A moment later there entered a tall thin Englishman with a great moustache, which was a rare thing amid that clean-shaven race."
- "“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache."
- "A hint of the truth broke on him after Sedan, when he saw the dyed moustaches of Napoleon going grey; another when he entered Paris, and saw the smashed windows of the Tuileries."
- "Ivan, the confidential man with the scar and the moustaches, came out of the house like a cannon ball, and came racing across the lawn to Valentin like a dog to his master."
- "Small, well-knit, fair, he sat stroking his slight blond moustache and looking at her with kindly, almost tender eyes; but he left it to his sister and the others to draw her out and fit her into the pattern."
- "Crabbe caught the eye of the oboist, an ancient man with dignified moustaches, and mimed that they were going round to the front, to watch the real thing, the shadows."
Etymology
Used in English since the 16th century. From Middle French moustache from Italian mostaccio, from Early Medieval Latin mustācium, from Byzantine Greek μουστάκιον (moustákion), diminutive of (Doric) Ancient Greek μύσταξ (mústax, “upper lip”), of unknown origin (probably a Pre-Greek substrate). Replaced native English kemp (“moustache”), from Old English cenep.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: moustache, mostaccio, mustācium, μουστάκιον, μύσταξ
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈmʌstæʃ/