brunette

Hi,

According to several dictionaries I have consulted, brunette can mean having dark hair and, often, dark eyes and darkish or olive skin. In Taiwan, almost all young people have dark hair. Can we say they are brunette? It sounds very strange, doesn't it?

I always hear it used as a noun, and usually just for females. eg His girlfriend is an attrac

I'd just like to add that I have never taken "brunette" to mean anything about eye color or skin color.

"She was a lovely brunette, with sparkling blue eyes and a pale complexion" would not sound odd at all.

Clive, I'm trying to think - I don't recall ever hearing a man referred to as a brunette, but I've heard both men and women called blond(e)s. Do you think that's because of t

For females, it's fine. However, you may want to use "brunet," for males.

Antiknck, have you ever actually seen this word used?

Grammar Geek,

In published writing? Not that I can recall. Most writers tend to stick with either "brown" or "dark-haired" as adjectives for hair colours. However, it is in the dictionary, as follows:

–adjective
1. (esp. of a male) brunette.
–noun
2. a person, usually a male, with d

I too would expect "brunette" only to signify a "Caucasian" female, of the e.g. Keira Knightley type.

MrP

TeoIn Taiwan, almost all young people have dark hair.

Brunette (french for little brown-haired girl) is used for females with naturally occuring brown hair, not dark hair. Since the non caucasian peoples all have black hair the term cannot be applied to them.

Encarta World English Dictionary. No mention that it is used only for a male person. bru·net [ http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/Pronounce.aspx?search=brunet ] (plural bru·nets [ ])

Encarta World English Dictionary. bru·net [ http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/Pronounce.aspx?search=brunet ] (plural bru·nets [

Hi,

There are words in the dictionary that I don't remember ever encountering in my life. This is one of them.

Cli