Home UK English depilatory

Meaning of depilatory in English:

depilatory

Pronunciation /dɪˈpɪlət(ə)ri/

Translate depilatory into Spanish

adjective

  • Used to remove unwanted hair.

    ‘Developed and tested in a government lab 10 years before, the dehairing system removed hair and dirt from beef carcasses by spraying them with depilatory chemicals as they moved through a massive chamber.’
    • ‘In the ‘mountain humbled’ towns of the Andes, he stumbles upon a scheme to import the sap of a bobohuariza tree and market it as an organic depilatory treatment.’
    • ‘According to beauty experts, the number of men seeking the painful depilatory treatment has soared 10-fold over the past five years.’
    • ‘The cream removes unwanted hair to the root, unlike other depilatory creams which merely melt it to just below the skin's surface.’
    • ‘The day before surgery, hair was removed with a depilatory cream, if necessary.’

nounplural noun depilatories

  • A cream or lotion for removing unwanted hair.

    ‘Many hand and body lotions, facial creams, soaps and depilatories contain honey, which can be used on sensitive skin.’
    • ‘If this is a concern for you, remove the hair with wax, depilatories or electrolysis.’
    • ‘The usual remedies for unwanted hair include plucking, shaving, waxing or chemical depilatories, but all of them are temporary, as none damage the hair follicle.’
    • ‘Shaving and depilatories remain dependable backups, but laser hair removal is the most high-tech way to zap unwanted hair.’
    • ‘Most people are familiar with shaving, bleaching, plucking and depilatories, which chemically dissolve hair.’

Origin

Early 17th century from Latin depilatorius, from depilat- ‘stripped of hair’, from the verb depilare (see depilate).