Word.ws English Dictionary

airbrush

airbrush noun: a miniature, handheld paint sprayer, powered by compressed air or other gas, used for delicate, artistic painting, or sometimes retouching of photographs.

airbrush: a miniature, handheld paint sprayer, powered by compressed air or other gas, used for delicate,...
Image: Michel90, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

airbrush (plural airbrushes)

  1. A miniature, handheld paint sprayer, powered by compressed air or other gas, used for delicate, artistic painting, or sometimes retouching of photographs.

Verb

airbrush (third-person singular simple present airbrushes, present participle airbrushing, simple past and past participle airbrushed)

  1. To paint using an airbrush.
  2. To touch up or enhance a photograph or person, often with intent to mislead.
    • This photo has definitely been airbrushed; no one has skin this smooth.
    Synonyms:
    photoshop, doctor
  3. (broadly, figuratively) To edit or alter something in order to make it appear better.
    • They'd spent one evening together sixteen months ago, and Falk was acutely aware that he'd probably airbrushed and edited at least some of it without meaning to.2022, Jane Harper, Exiles, page 287

Synonyms of airbrush

Forms of airbrush

Noun
pluralairbrushes
alternative formair brush
alternative formair-brush
Verb
third-person singular presentairbrushes
present participleairbrushing
past participleairbrushed
pastairbrushed

Plural of airbrush: airbrushes

Origin of airbrush

From air + brush.

Words formed from airbrush

Questions about airbrush

What does airbrush mean?
Airbrush means a miniature, handheld paint sprayer, powered by compressed air or other gas, used for delicate, artistic painting, or sometimes retouching of photographs.
What part of speech is airbrush?
Airbrush can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of airbrush?
The plural of airbrush is airbrushes.

Words near airbrush in the dictionary

  1. airbreathing catfishes
  2. airbrick
  3. airbricks
  4. airbridge
  5. airbridges
  6. airbrush
  7. airbrushed
  8. airbrusher
  9. airbrushers
  10. airbrushes
  11. airbrushing

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: airbrush (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “airbrush.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/airbrush. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.