pince-nez

[ pans-ney, pins-; French pans-ney ]

noun

, plural pince-nez [pans, -neyz, pins, -, pa, n, s-, ney].

1. a pair of glasses held on the face by a spring that grips the nose.

pince-nez

/ pɛ̃sne; ˈpænsˌneɪ; ˈpɪns- /

noun

1. eyeglasses that are held in place only by means of a clip over the bridge of the nose

Word History and Origins

Origin of pince-nez¹

1875–80; < French: literally, (it) pinches (the) nose

Word History and Origins

Origin of pince-nez¹

C19: French, literally: pinch-nose

Example Sentences

Gamache does not solve crimes by adjusting his pince-nez and issuing a deduction.

From Seattle Times

He showed me some pince-nez reading glasses that Guinness has gotten for him, which make him look even more like an 18th-century European count.

From New York Times

Improbably bedecked in a bow tie, pince-nez glasses and a mailman’s hat, he held a pickle like a cigar and cracked wise in a voice borrowed from Groucho Marx.

From New York Times

A pair of cracked pince-nez balanced on the end of his twitching nose.

From Literature

The first is the discovery by a timorous and eminently respectable architect of the nude body of a murdered man, neatly disposed in his bathtub, decorated with a pair of gold-rimmed pince-nez.

From New York Times

Related Words

• specs
• sunglasses