war paint
Preserved but no longer current.
The paint applied to their faces by Red Indians and other peoples to make their appearance terrifying before going out on the warpath. Putting on one's war paint is a phrase applied figuratively to getting ready to enter energetically into a dispute or to putting on lipstick, powder, etc., in order to overcome one's rivals.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “war paint” mean?
The paint applied to their faces by Red Indians and other peoples to make their appearance terrifying before going out on the warpath. Putting on one's war paint is a phrase applied figuratively to getting ready to enter energetically into a dispute or to putting on lipstick, powder, etc., in order to overcome one's rivals.
Is “war paint” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.