brownette

brownette noun: a person, especially a woman, with light brown hair.

Noun

brownette (plural brownettes)

(dated) A person, especially a woman, with light brown hair.
- IF YOU ARE A BROWNETTE with medium skin, added glamour is yours with Cream No. 2 Pan-Cake; or. Natural-Rose Pan-Cake.1947 May 12, LIFE, page 56
- FOR THE BLONDE. . . […] FOR THE BROWNETTE. . . harmonizing enchantment with Max Factor’s famous Hollywood Matched Make-up— […] FOR THE REDETTE. . . […] FOR THE BRUNETTE. . . […]1947 September 5, “Sears”, in The Kansas City Star, main edition, volume 67, number 336, Kansas City, Mo., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 6

brownette (not comparable)

(dated) Especially of a woman: having light brown hair.
- The survey asked for preferences in smoking and drinking, and whether they preferred blonde, brunette, or red-haired or brownette women as dates.1940 February 28, “Rice Owl Conducts Survey on Preferences of Men Students”, in The Houston Chronicle, home edition, volume 39, number 138, Houston, Tex., →ISSN, →OCLC, section A, page 9, column 2
- MAX FACTOR ★ HOLLYWOOD has created these luxurious Gift Sets in Color Harmony shades for blonde, brownette, brunette or red-head types. Every woman is interested in the gift which will reveal her individual loveliness.1940 December 7, “Gifts that will linger in Memory”, in The Australian Women’s Weekly, →ISSN, →OCLC, “The Movie World” section, page 29, column 3
(dated) Of hair, especially of a woman: light brown.
- Frosting and Tipping of your hair is for winter hi-fashion. It adds hi-lights to any brunette or brownette hair, softens the looks and adds body to the hair.1962 January 22, Betty Chason, “Vanity Fair”, in The News Tribune, volume 59, number 37, Fort Pierce, Fla., →OCLC, page 6, column 7
- [Leslie] Blanchard recommends weaving threads of red or golden color throughout brown for brownette hair, to create that “blonde illusion” that is the news in haircolor today.1980 June 12, Patricia Ferrara, “Cut and color most important in hair style”, in The Home News, New Brunswick, N.J., →OCLC, page 37, column 4

The models were very attractive indeed (blondes, brunettes, brownettes but no redettes) but on the slim side.1960 January 21, John Robinson, “In This Corner”, in The Hamilton Spectator, home edition, volume CXV, number 17, Hamilton, Ont., →ISSN...
A slender, attractive 31-year-old brownette woman, represented by two court-appointed attorneys, went on trial in Judge Langston G.1953 October 14, “Wife Goes on Trial in Mate Killing”, in The Houston Chronicle, final edition, volume 53, number 1, Houston, Tex., →ISSN...
[Oscar] Coley would not reveal the information given him by a pretty brownette woman who returned to Phenix City from Aiken when she learned investigators wanted to question her.1954 August 18, “Guardsmen Sure They Know Prostitution Ring Heads”, in The Columbus Ledger, volume 69, number 98, Columbus, Ga., →OCLC...
And 70 per cent of American women are naturally brunette or brownette; […]1962 June 14, Maureen Counihan, “There Is Nothing Lovelier Than Soft Brownette Hair”, in The Lexington Herald, volume 92, number 142...

plural	brownettes

From brown + -ette, after brunette. Coined by American businessman Max Factor in the late 1920s.

What does brownette mean?: Brownette means a person, especially a woman, with light brown hair.
How do you use brownette in a sentence?: The models were very attractive indeed (blondes, brunettes, brownettes but no redettes) but on the slim side.
What part of speech is brownette?: Brownette can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of brownette?: The plural of brownette is brownettes.

Adapted from Wiktionary: brownette (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.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

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