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

Nearby, lovely reconstructions in watercolor and gouache of several wall paintings were made onsite around 1960 by the well-known British archaeological illustrator, Piet de Jong.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2025

But it’s rare to see work as thoroughly and distinctively strange as these acrylic and gouache paintings on Korean hanji paper by Jongwan Jang.

From New York Times • May 2, 2024

Later, he’ll transfer these images to silk, stretch them onto wooden frames, and add bouquets of flowers and explosions of patterns with gouache paint.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 20, 2024

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