Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
dictionary thesaurus view recents

barrette

noun
Save Word
bar·​rette | \ bä-ˈret How to pronounce barrette (audio) , bə- \

Definition of barrette

: a clip or bar for holding hair in place

Examples of barrette in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Behind the takeout counter, the top of Angel’s head was barely visible, barrettes with bows fastened in her hair. — Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, "Angel Indian’s Impressive Array of Vegetarian Standards and Showstoppers," 29 Nov. 2019 July 2019 Pulling her strands into a high ponytail, fastening the hairstyle with a pink barrette that matches her dress and her eye makeup is a bold beauty look and certainly one of Beanie's bests. — Rebecca Dancer, Teen Vogue, "Beanie Feldstein's Beauty Evolution," 1 Oct. 2019 Some are elderly, and others hold onto newborns or have little girls with braided hair and barrettes at their heels. — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, "'One time of day they're not harassed': Step inside the Louisville women’s day shelter," 7 Nov. 2019 Think snap clips, bedazzled bobby pins, hair barrettes—sometimes worn all at once. — Tara Gonzalez, Glamour, "Pearl Hair Clips Are Everywhere—And They’re Incredibly Easy to Style," 13 Sep. 2019 Its rows of tiny, pyramidal studs could transform any item—bracelet, bag, barrette—into one that was immediately recognizable as Valentino. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "We’ve Gotta Have It: The 17 Items that Defined Fashion in the 2010s," 18 July 2019 In the ’90s, her baby doll dresses, barrettes, and Mary Janes were a subversive fashion statement with the kinderwhore aesthetic being one of the defining styles of the decade. — Lisawhill, Longreads, "Live Through This: Courtney Love at 55," 9 July 2019 Aubrey Plaza rocked a knife barrette to Wednesday’s premiere of her new horror flick Child’s Play, a remake of the 1988 film of the same name. — Helen Murphy, PEOPLE.com, "Chucky Chic: Aubrey Plaza Wears a Knife Barrette to the Child's Play Premiere," 21 June 2019 On the side of her head is a barrette just like the ones Martin always wore. — Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press, "She was in iconic photo of RFK in Detroit, but didn't know for five decades," 4 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'barrette.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

See More

First Known Use of barrette

1901, in the meaning defined above

History and Etymology for barrette

French, diminutive of barre bar

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about barrette

Time Traveler for barrette

Time Traveler

The first known use of barrette was in 1901

See more words from the same year

Statistics for barrette

Last Updated

12 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Barrette.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barrette. Accessed 18 January 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for barrette

barrette

noun
How to pronounce barrette (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of barrette

US : a decorative clip or bar that is used to hold a girl's or woman's hair in place

See the full definition for barrette in the English Language Learners Dictionary

barrette

noun
bar·​rette | \ bä-ˈret How to pronounce barrette (audio) , bə- \

Kids Definition of barrette

: a clasp or bar used to hold hair in place

Keep scrolling for more

More from Merriam-Webster on barrette

Rhyming Dictionary: Words that rhyme with barrette

Spanish Central: Translation of barrette

Nglish: Translation of barrette for Spanish Speakers

Comments on barrette

What made you want to look up barrette? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

Show Comments  Hide Comments 

WORD OF THE DAY

vicarious

Listen to the pronounciation of vicarious

experienced by way of someone else

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

The Eponym Quiz

  • rubens painting
  • Which is the best synonym of bowdlerize?
Spell It

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ
Add Diction

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games