nose paint

noun

A red nose, as from drinking too much alcohol; alcoholic liquor.

First used 19th c.
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Meanings

nounnose paint (uncountable)
  1. humorousslanguncountableA red nose, as from drinking too much alcohol; alcoholic liquor.First known use 19th c.

    Henry Campbell, the townclerk, away from the carking cares of office, unwashed, of course, and in a seedy getup and a strong suspicion of nosepaint about the nasal appendage.

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 16: Eumaeus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 586
    1 more example

    Nose paint is the most expensive adornment in the world. It costs high in money, health and morals, and while it brightens the prow of the countenance with a perennial blush, it gives the immortal germ in the background a dark fringe around the border, and puts a skeleton in the closet at home […]

    1892, The Banner of Gold (volumes 3-4, page 85)
Cite this entry
APA

nose paint. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nose%20paint

MLA

“nose paint.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nose%20paint. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nose paint,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nose%20paint.

Source: nose paint on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.