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varnish

/ˈvɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ/noun, verb

varnish is spelled V-A-R-N-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, varnish means “A clear or translucent liquid coating composed of resin dissolved in a solvent, which dries by evaporation to form a hard, protective, and typically…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of varnish is varnishes.

How many letters and syllables are in varnish?

Letters7: V-A-R-N-I-S-H
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is varnish?

Varnish appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce varnish?

  • /ˈvɑː(ɹ)nɪʃ/

Varnish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-varnish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of varnish

  • varnishes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • varnishing participle, present
  • varnished participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does varnish mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A clear or translucent liquid coating composed of resin dissolved in a solvent, which dries by evaporation to form a hard, protective, and typically glossy finish.

  2. 2

    Anything resembling such a coating; a glossy appearance.

  3. 3

    A deceptively showy appearance.

  4. 4

    USdatedinformalA passenger train, probably derived from the varnished passenger cars used at one time.

verb

  1. 1

    To apply varnish.

  2. 2

    To cover up with varnish.

  3. 3

    To make something superficially or deceptively attractive

    varnish the report

  4. 4

    To gloss over a defect.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Varnish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchvernis (transparent paint), vernir (intransitive: to apply varnish)
GermanLack, Firnis (transparent paint), lackieren, firnissen (intransitive: to apply varnish)
Portugueseverniz (transparent paint), envernizar (intransitive: to apply varnish)
Spanishbarniz, corladura, corla (transparent paint), barnizar, lacar (intransitive: to apply varnish), corlar (transitive: to cover up with varnish)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does varnish come from?

From Middle English vernisch, vernish, from Old French vernis, from Medieval Latin vernix, veronix, from Byzantine Greek Βερενίκη (Bereníkē, “Berenice”), a town in Cyrenaica, now called Benghazi.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

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