ENGLISH
REFERENCE

pimple

n.
A2 Elementary US //ˈpɪmpəɫ// UK //pˈɪmpəl// pim·ple Slang

n. a small, red, painful bump on your skin that is usually filled with pus. It is a common sign of a skin condition called acne.

n. a small, inflamed, pus-filled lesion on the skin, typically resulting from a blocked hair follicle. Often used as a synonym for a comedone or a papule in informal contexts.


SIMPLE

I have a small pimple on my nose.

CONTEXTUAL

He tried to pop the pimple on his cheek, but it only made it more red and sore.

COMPLEX

While occasional pimples are a normal part of adolescence, persistent breakouts can indicate a more severe form of acne that requires medical intervention.

Synonyms
Origin

Early Modern English pimple, pumple, from Middle English pymple, pympyl, of uncertain origin but probably a nasalized variant of Old English pipel, pypel, from Old English piplian, pyplian (“to break out in pimples, show eruptions”), probably related to Latin papula (“pimple, pustule”) (from Proto-Indo-European *pap- (“pock mark, nipple”)). Akin to Old English pipliġende (“having shingles”).

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