cosmetic

«cosmetic» in Mova's school dictionary: things like make-up, face cream and lipstick that people… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (cosmetic); noun (cosmetics — usually plural)

meaning for a pupil

1) Cosmetics are things like make-up, face cream and lipstick that people put on to look nicer. tree →

2) (adjective) Cosmetic means done only to improve how something looks, not how it works: «a cosmetic change». tree →

3) Cosmetic surgery is an operation to change how someone looks. tree →

sense in the lessons

In everyday life it is about make-up and appearance. In discussions it can mean shallow: a cosmetic change does not fix the real problem. Phrases: «cosmetic surgery», «purely cosmetic», «cosmetics counter».

examples

• Mum keeps her cosmetics in a little bag. tree →
• The scratch on the car is only cosmetic. tree →
• They gave the room a cosmetic makeover with new paint. tree →
• Some cosmetics are tested to make sure they are safe for skin. tree →
• Changing the name was just a cosmetic change. tree →
• Cosmetic surgery can change the shape of a nose. tree →

note

The noun is usually plural: cosmetics. «Purely cosmetic» means it doesn't really matter for how something works. Not related to «cosmic».

In the corpora

• "Had some work done" means had cosmetic surgery, operations on the face or body that change how a person looks.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «cosmetic» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.