retroussé

See also: retrousse

English

WOTD – 14 December 2017

Alternative forms

• retrousse

Etymology

From French retroussé, past participle of retrousser (“to hitch up, hike up”), from re- (from Latin re- (“prefix meaning ‘back, backwards; again’”), from Proto-Italic *wre (“again”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *wert- (“to turn”) or *ure- (“back”)) + trousser (“to fold up, hitch up”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈtɹuːseɪ/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛtɹuˈseɪ/
• Hyphenation: re‧trous‧sé

Adjective

retroussé (comparative more retroussé, superlative most retroussé)

1. Turned up, especially when describing the nose.
   • 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:

     [...] 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.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “A Novice”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 363:

     "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.

   • 1967, Michael Gilbert, “Part Two: Tendresse v. Lucille”, in The Dust and the Heat, London: Hodder & Stoughton; republished Looe, Cornwall: House of Stratus, 2004, →ISBN, page 128:

     You know, a touch of character – slightly retroussé nose, big mouth, perhaps a couple of freckles.

   • 2004, Anita-Louise Johnson, chapter 1, in Faithful, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 3:

     Luminous silver gray eyes outlined in sooty lashes; a pert retroussé nose and faintly carmine tinted lips, slightly full, finished the oval face.

   • 2008, Fiona Capp, Musk & Byrne, Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:

     She shares with this woman the same retroussé nose and half-moon eyes, the same asymmetrical smile.

   • 2009, Jasper Fforde, “The Word”, in Shades of Grey, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →OCLC:

     I would simply waffle about her small, almost perfectly upswept, retroussé nose, and you'd consider me insane, and put me back.

Synonyms

• upturned
• (describing a nose): pug-nosed, snub-nosed

Translations

turned up

• Bulgarian: чип (čip)
• Turkish: kalkık (tr)

Anagrams

• sostreure

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.tʁu.se/

Participle

retroussé (feminine retroussée, masculine plural retroussés, feminine plural retroussées)

1. past participle of retrousser

Further reading

• “retroussé”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.