veneer

noun

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ve·neer | \ və-ˈnir

Definition of veneer

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a thin sheet of a material: such as

a : a layer of wood of superior value or excellent grain to be glued to an inferior wood

b : any of the thin layers bonded together to form plywood

c : a plastic or porcelain coating bonded to the surface of a cosmetically imperfect tooth

2 : a protective or ornamental facing (as of brick or stone)

3 : a superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, display, or effect : facade, gloss a veneer of tolerance

veneer

verb

veneered; veneering; veneers

Definition of veneer (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to overlay or plate (a surface, as of a common sort of wood) with a thin layer of finer wood for outer finish or decoration broadly : to face with a material giving a superior surface

2 : to cover over with a veneer especially : to conceal (something, such as a defect of character) under a superficial and deceptive attractiveness

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Examples of veneer in a Sentence

Noun a wall with a stone veneer a dresser with mahogany veneer Verb The cabinet was veneered in oak.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun With its clinical aesthetic, thin veneer of skepticism and authority reinforced by an aspirational celebrity businesswoman who just learned what a vulva is, Goop Lab runs the great risk of exacerbating it. — Judy Berman, Time, "Gwyneth Paltrow’s Netflix Goop Show Is a High-End Infomercial Masquerading as an Investigative Docuseries," 22 Jan. 2020 Its new age veneer and plaintive, pensive ambiance forges a place of comforting repose: an oasis that seems frozen in time. — Billboard Staff, Billboard, "The 25 Best K-pop Albums of 2019: Critics' Picks," 31 Dec. 2019 And despite their discount veneer, the Dollar Generals and Family Dollars that have filled that void are often actually more expensive than mainstream retailers. — David Z. Morris, Fortune, "You Can Now Pay Cash When Shopping on Amazon. Here’s How," 19 Sep. 2019 The $95 million production has the signature veneer of a filmmaker who came to the attention of Hollywood with his 1999 Academy Award-winning debut American Beauty and directed the last two James Bond features. — Karl Vick, Time, "Sam Mendes on Taking World War I Out of the Trenches and Into the Theater in 1917," 3 Dec. 2019 The country manufactures and exports veneer, thinly sliced hardwood that is laid over produced wood to give furniture, cabinets, and floors a polished look. — Aisha Salaudeen And Jo Munnik, CNN, "Gabon's tricky balancing act with a growing timber industry and the environment," 1 Nov. 2019 All three actors are excellent, but Amanda Zarr delivers an especially outstanding performance as the woman, initially shrouded in mystery, who — under the influence of beer and hard liquor — sheds her hard veneer along with her inhibitions. — Daily Pilot, "On Theater: Bizarre brilliance in Chance’s ‘Vandal’," 14 Oct. 2019 Oregon letters assembled in a tree shape, made of Baltic birch veneer and glitter with green or red dots ($7, 4 inches high and 3.5 inches wide), is available on WhiteFoxCrafts’ Etsy shop. — oregonlive, "20 Oregon-inspired ornaments: Bigfoot, bridges and other branch-worthy baubles," 2 Dec. 2019 Neon, chrome, veneer; historical typography, the New York of the past. — Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, "How William Gibson Keeps His Science Fiction Real," 9 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb And if Psyche does have a rocky mantle, ferrovolcanic seeps could have veneered it with metal from the asteroid’s core. — Michael Greshko, National Geographic, "Heavy-metal space volcanoes may have forged gem-studded meteorites," 18 Sep. 2019 Some sported muscle sheaths that swell when exposed to ethanol vapor; others were veneered with a material that shrinks when soaked in a glucose solution. — Sid Perkins, Scientific American, "A New Twist on Artificial Muscles," 11 July 2019 Some sported muscle sheaths that swell when exposed to ethanol vapor; others were veneered with a material that shrinks when soaked in a glucose solution. — Sid Perkins, Scientific American, "A New Twist on Artificial Muscles," 11 July 2019 A stair leads to the spacious main level, with its Brazilian-walnut floors and open red-oak-veneered kitchen bracketed by the living room and dining room, both of which open onto ipe decks. — Aric Chen, ELLE Decor, "Building a Life Together," 31 Oct. 2008

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