Antonyms for mask


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : mask, mahsk
Phonetic Transcription : mæsk, mɑsk


Definition of mask

Origin :
  • 1530s, from Middle French masque "covering to hide or guard the face" (16c.), from Italian maschera, from Medieval Latin masca "mask, specter, nightmare," of uncertain origin, perhaps from Arabic maskharah "buffoon, mockery," from sakhira "be mocked, ridiculed." Or via Provençal mascarar, Catalan mascarar, Old French mascurer "to black (the face)," perhaps from a Germanic source akin to English mesh (q.v.). But cf. Occitan mascara "to blacken, darken," derived from mask- "black," which is held to be from a pre-Indo-European language, and Old Occitan masco "witch," surviving in dialects; in Beziers it means "dark cloud before the rain comes." [See Walther von Wartburg, "Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch: Eine Darstellung galloromanischen sprachschatzes"]. Figurative use by 1570s.
  • noun false face, cover
  • verb disguise
Example sentences :
  • Even for Mammon's sake Mr. Raymount was not the man to hide or mask his opinions.
  • Extract from : « Weighed and Wanting » by George MacDonald
  • The black bonnet had been like a mask, hiding Mart's beauty.
  • Extract from : « Ester Ried Yet Speaking » by Isabella Alden
  • His usual vacuity of expression was cast off like a mask and alarm twisted his features.
  • Extract from : « Within the Law » by Marvin Dana
  • Under her mask of languor, Carlotta's heart was beating wildly.
  • Extract from : « K » by Mary Roberts Rinehart
  • In "Cymbeline," Shakespeare's mask Posthumus dwells on the same idea.
  • Extract from : « The Man Shakespeare » by Frank Harris
  • The mask worn by the face of the world is dropped before us.
  • Extract from : « Camps, Quarters and Casual Places » by Archibald Forbes
  • These fiends were doubly protected by midnight and the mask.
  • Extract from : « Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 2, April 9, 1870 » by Various
  • Then the messenger threw aside his mask, and Seth saw that he was Death.
  • Extract from : « A Little Book of Profitable Tales » by Eugene Field
  • No man with a gleam of humour could have kept a mask of grimness.
  • Extract from : « It Happened in Egypt » by C. N. Williamson
  • Mask them all, and the mere turn of the head would have shown an unsubduable nature.
  • Extract from : « Little Dorrit » by Charles Dickens

Synonyms for mask

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019