carbuncle
Americannoun
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Pathology. a painful circumscribed inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue, resulting in suppuration and sloughing, and having a tendency to spread somewhat like a boil, but more serious in its effects.
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a gemstone, especially a garnet, cut with a convex back and a cabochon surface.
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Also called London brown. a dark grayish, red-brown color.
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Obsolete. any rounded red gem.
adjective
noun
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an extensive skin eruption, similar to but larger than a boil, with several openings: caused by staphylococcal infection
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a rounded gemstone, esp a garnet cut without facets
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a dark reddish-greyish-brown colour
Other Word Forms
- carbuncled adjective
- carbuncular adjective
Etymology
Origin of carbuncle
1150–1200; Middle English < Anglo-French < Latin carbunculus kind of precious stone, tumor, literally, live coal, equivalent to carbōn- (stem of carbō ) burning charcoal + -culus -cule 1, apparently assimilated to derivates from short-vowel stems; homunculus
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"He was absolutely slammed down by the architectural establishment," said Clarke of the King's attacks on some modern design plans, such as in 1984 calling a proposed extension to the National Gallery a "monstrous carbuncle".
From BBC
The then Prince of Wales described a proposed extension of London's National Gallery as a "monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend".
From BBC
Mr Venturi's design was chosen following the cancellation of a proposed extension to the National Gallery, famously derided as a "monstrous carbuncle" on Trafalgar Square by Prince Charles.
From BBC
Watching Donald Trump speak is like watching a festering carbuncle explode in a spray of pus and blood.
From Salon
He disdained a proposed addition to London’s National Gallery as “a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.”
From Washington Post
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
