Word.ws English Dictionary

retroussé

Syllables: re·trous·sé/ɹəˈtɹuːseɪ/US/ˌɹɛtɹuˈseɪ/

retroussé adjective: turned up, especially when describing the nose.

Adjective

retroussé (comparative more retroussé, superlative most retroussé)

  1. Turned up, especially when describing the nose.
    • [...] Roxelane [...] would never have been espoused by the Sultan [Suleiman the Magnificent] had not her nose been retroussé, thus[…]. / It may be noted that to this day a retroussé nose is known in France as a nose a la Roxelane.1903 April, “Sir Oracle” [pseudonym], The Era: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Literature and of General Interest, volume XI, number 4, Philadelphia, Pa.: Henry T. Coates & Co., →OCLC, page 303
    • "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.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “A Novice”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 363

Examples of retroussé in a sentence

  • You know, a touch of character – slightly retroussé nose, big mouth, perhaps a couple of freckles.1967, Michael Gilbert, “Part Two: Tendresse v. Lucille”, in The Dust and the Heat, London: Hodder & Stoughton; republished Looe, Cornwall...
  • Luminous silver gray eyes outlined in sooty lashes; a pert retroussé nose and faintly carmine tinted lips, slightly full, finished the oval face.2004, Anita-Louise Johnson, chapter 1, in Faithful, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 3:
  • She shares with this woman the same retroussé nose and half-moon eyes, the same asymmetrical smile.2008, Fiona Capp, Musk & Byrne, Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:
  • I would simply waffle about her small, almost perfectly upswept, retroussé nose, and you'd consider me insane, and put me back.2009, Jasper Fforde, “The Word”, in Shades of Grey, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC:

Synonyms of retroussé

Forms of retroussé

comparativemore retroussé
superlativemost retroussé
alternative formretrousse

Origin of retroussé

From French retroussé, past participle of retrousser (“to hitch up, hike up”), from re- (from Latin re- (“back, backwards; again”), from Proto-Italic *wre- (“again”)) + trousser (“to fold up, hitch up”).

Questions about retroussé

What does retroussé mean?
Retroussé means turned up, especially when describing the nose.
How do you use retroussé in a sentence?
You know, a touch of character – slightly retroussé nose, big mouth, perhaps a couple of freckles.
What part of speech is retroussé?
Retroussé is an adjective.
How do you pronounce retroussé?
Retroussé is pronounced /ɹəˈtɹuːseɪ/ (UK).

Words near retroussé in the dictionary

  1. retrotrapezoid nuclei
  2. retrotrapezoid nucleus
  3. retrotympanic
  4. retrourethral
  5. retroussage
  6. retroussé
  7. retrouterine
  8. retrovaccinate
  9. retrovaccinated
  10. retrovaccinates
  11. retrovaccinating

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: retroussé (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-retroussé.wav.

Cite this entry: “retroussé.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/retrouss%C3%A9. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.