gouache

American  

[gwahsh, goo-ahsh, gwash] / gwɑʃ, guˈɑʃ, gwaʃ /

noun

plural

gouaches

1. a technique of painting with opaque watercolors prepared with gum.

2. an opaque color used in painting a gouache.

3. a work painted using gouache.

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gouache British  

/ ɡʊˈɑːʃ /

noun

1. Also called: body colour.  a painting technique using opaque watercolour paint in which the pigments are bound with glue and the lighter tones contain white

2. the paint used in this technique

3. a painting done by this method

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Etymology

Origin of gouache

1880–85; < French < Italian guazzo place where there is water ≪ Latin aquātiō, derivative of aqua water

Example Sentences

“Young Lion” only measures about 4.5 inches tall, but Rembrandt used black chalk and white gouache to render it in minute detail, down to the animal’s eyelashes and the chain around his neck.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 4, 2026

Perhaps the canvas’ most beautiful feature is the rich skin of black acrylic paint within which he and his steed, both rendered in soft veils of thin gouache, are embedded.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2025

Avatars of buffaloes and bears, plus the shapes of buffalo hides and traditional star-quilt designs appear in large-scale, intricately patterned gouache paintings and drawings made in permanent ink.

From Seattle Times • May 24, 2023

Glossy and imposing in oil, these waves look very different in a rarely seen, 6-by-9-foot gouache cartoon.

From New York Times • May 11, 2023

My gouache painting of Buddy Gui’s house—about a mile away from our house—shows his garage door open and all his chain-saw sculptures dragged out onto his driveway.

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson