Ombré, ombre and hombre are three words that are pronounced in the same manner but are spelled differently and have different meanings, which makes them homophones. We will examine the definitions of ombré, ombre and hombre, where these words came from and some examples of their use in sentences.
Ombré describes something composed of graded shades of the same color, from lightest to darkest or from darkest to lightest. Ombré is an adjective and a borrowed or loaned French word. It is the past participle of the word ombrer which means to shade.
Ombre is an old card game that was popular several hundred years ago. Ombre is played with a forty-card, Spanish deck and involves the taking of tricks. The word ombre is derived from the Spanish word hombre, which means man. While ombre most properly refers to this old card game, the term ombré to mean something of graded shades of the same color is more and more often seen rendered as ombre.
Hombre is a term that is mostly used in North America to denote a tough, strong or brutish man. Hombre is a Spanish word that means man. Hombre is a borrowed or loaned word from Spanish and is derived from the Latin word hominem which means man.
Examples
It’s time to think pink for Starbucks’ newest viral Instashot in a cup: the Pink Ombré Drink (not to be confused with other similar offerings from Starbucks like the Pink Drink and the Matcha Pink Drink, which fades from green to pink). (The Huffington Post)
She’s had a short brunette bob, long blonde ombre hair, and even a bowl cut. (Allure Magazine)
The rest of this grid, for me, was a fun stew of little gems I had never known (the card game ombre, for example, although if I’d only read “The Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton,” which looks ripping, I’d have known every rule and begun with FORTY cards), snippets from memory (two references to skin care that filled themselves in eventually — NEET and NOXZEMA, which itself makes for some mean fill and might be the only word in use in the puzzle with “xz” in order), and simple answers to clever clues. (The New York Times)
Reinhardt said Trump has claimed his immigration policies would target the “bad hombres” but the decision to remove Magana Ortiz shows “that even the ‘good hombres’ are not safe.” (The Washington Post)
Enjoyed reading about these homophones? Check out some others we covered: