as in decorative
serving to add beauty
changes in the original design of the building were purely cosmetic
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Recent Examples of cosmetic
Barbara Wolf, STAT, 15 May 2026
What Beauty Tourism Means Beauty tourism refers to traveling internationally for cosmetic or aesthetic procedures rather than receiving them locally.
—Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 May 2026
Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
It was also adopted by dermo-cosmetic brands for sensitive skin.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cosmetic
Adjective
Once a medication is deemed appropriate to be classified as a generic drug, neither the manufacturer nor the doctor who previously prescribed the medication are obligated to inform the patient of the cosmetic changes.
—Barbara Wolf, STAT, 15 May 2026
What Beauty Tourism Means Beauty tourism refers to traveling internationally for cosmetic or aesthetic procedures rather than receiving them locally.
—Hanna Wickes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 May 2026
Noun
These versatile salves might serve to treat a burn, as a facial cosmetic, or as a hair conditioner in a pinch.
—Literary Hub, 23 Jan. 2026
It was also adopted by dermo-cosmetic brands for sensitive skin.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cosmetic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cosmetic
Adjective
-
Bedside lanterns, traditional tea pots above the minibar, and authentic decorative pottery fill the room.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
12 May 2026
-
Queen Camilla wore a smocked jersey shirtdress in Merida red with a decorative blossom pattern.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
The series is also pursuing recognition across a wide swath of craft categories, including cinematography, editing, production design, prosthetic makeup, costumes, hairstyling, sound editing, sound mixing and special visual effects.—
Clayton Davis,
Variety,
12 May 2026
-
Dior, as a longterm partner of La Terrasse by Albane, is creating a hair and makeup studio on the roof of the JW Marriott Hotel for film talents and celebrities to prep before interviews or photo shoots.—
Jennifer Weil,
Footwear News,
12 May 2026
Adjective
-
Crops like amaranth, chives, rainbow chard, red lettuces and sweet potatoes will add lovely ornamental value to beds, borders and containers before working a second shift on your dinner plate.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
12 May 2026
-
As part of the celebration marking the return of the Preakness, the colors of the race’s winner were painted onto the ornamental weather vane at Pimlico Racecourse for the first time.—
Senior Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
12 May 2026
Noun
-
This would be an entertaining video to show up on your doom scroll late at night, seeing how paint colors can be mixed and matched to present the color of your opponent, but two and a half minutes of this?—
Jon Root OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
16 May 2026
-
Toronto was shorthanded in the frontcourt without starting center Temi Fagbenle (right shoulder), and the Sparks trio of bigs had a field day with 54 points in the paint.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
Last year, Makary appeared at a news conference announcing the HHS and FDA would be implementing a series of measures to phase out eight artificial food dyes and colorings from America's food supply by the end of 2026.—
Mary Kekatos,
ABC News,
12 May 2026
-
Most complexity theorists study how hard problems like three-coloring are (in this case, how many steps are needed to find a valid coloring).—
Ben Brubaker,
Quanta Magazine,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cosmetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cosmetic. Accessed 18 May. 2026.
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