1 N‑COUNT If a person or room is given a makeover , their appearance is improved, usually by an expert. □ She received a cosmetic makeover at a beauty salon as a birthday gift.
2 N‑COUNT If an organization or system is given a makeover , important changes are made in order to improve it. □ The biggest makeover has been in TV drama.
mak|er ◆◆◇ /me I kə r / (makers )
1 N‑COUNT The maker of a product is the firm that manufactures it. □ …Japan's two largest car makers.
2 N‑COUNT You can refer to the person who makes something as its maker . □ …the makers of news and current affairs programmes.
3 → see also peacemaker SYNONYMS maker NOUN 1
manufacturer: …the world's largest doll manufacturer.
producer: The estate is generally a producer of high quality wines.
creator: I have always believed that a garden dies with its creator.
make|shift /me I kʃ I ft/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] Makeshift things are temporary and usually of poor quality, but they are used because there is nothing better available. □ …the cardboard boxes and makeshift shelters of the homeless.
ma ke-up ◆◇◇ also makeup
1 N‑UNCOUNT Make-up consists of things such as lipstick, eye shadow, and powder which some women put on their faces to make themselves look more attractive or which actors use to change or improve their appearance. □ Normally she wore little make-up.
2 N‑UNCOUNT [usu poss N ] Someone's make-up is their nature and the various qualities in their character. □ There was some fatal flaw in his makeup.
3 N‑UNCOUNT The make-up of something consists of its different parts and the way these parts are arranged. □ [+ of ] The ideological make-up of the unions is now radically different from what it had been.
make|weight /me I kwe I t/ (makeweights ) N‑COUNT If you describe someone or something as a makeweight , you think that they are not good or valuable and that they have been included in an activity in order to fill up a gap. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ He has not been signed to the club as a makeweight to fill out the numbers.
mak|ing /me I k I ŋ/ (makings )
1 N‑UNCOUNT [n N ] The making of something is the act or process of producing or creating it. □ [+ of ] …Salamon's book about the making of this movie.
2 PHRASE If you describe a person or thing as something in the making , you mean that they are going to become known or recognized as that thing. □ Her drama teacher is confident Julie is a star in the making.
3 PHRASE If something is the making of a person or thing, it is the reason that they become successful or become very much better than they used to be. □ This discovery may yet be the making of him.
4 PHRASE If you say that a person or thing has the makings of something, you mean it seems possible or likely that they will become that thing, as they have the necessary qualities. □ Godfrey had the makings of a successful journalist.
5 PHRASE If you say that something such as a problem you have is of your own making , you mean you have caused or created it yourself. □ Some of the university's financial troubles are of its own making.
PREFIX mal-
forms words that refer to things that are bad or unpleasant, or that are unsuccessful or imperfect. For example, malware is a type of computer program that damages a computer.
mal|ad|just|ed /mæ lədʒʌ st I d/ ADJ If you describe a child as maladjusted , you mean that they have psychological problems and behave in a way which is not acceptable to society. □ …a school for maladjusted children.
mal|ad|min|is|tra|tion /mæ lædm I n I stre I ʃ ə n/ N‑UNCOUNT Maladministration is the act or process of running a system or organization incorrectly. [FORMAL ] □ …a request to investigate a claim about maladministration.
mala|droit /mæ lədrɔ I t/ ADJ If you describe someone as maladroit , you mean that they are clumsy or handle situations badly. [FORMAL ] □ Some of his first interviews with the press were rather maladroit.
mala|dy /mæ lədi/ (maladies )
1 N‑COUNT A malady is an illness or disease. [OLD-FASHIONED ] □ He was stricken at twenty-one with a crippling malady.
2 N‑COUNT In written English, people sometimes use maladies to refer to serious problems in a society or situation. □ When apartheid is over the maladies will linger on.
ma|laise /mæle I z/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Malaise is a state in which there is something wrong with a society or group, for which there does not seem to be a quick or easy solution. [FORMAL ] □ There is no easy short-term solution to Britain's chronic economic malaise.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Malaise is a state in which people feel dissatisfied or unhappy but feel unable to change, usually because they do not know what is wrong. [FORMAL ] □ He complained of depression, headaches and malaise.
ma|laria /məleə riə/ N‑UNCOUNT Malaria is a serious disease carried by mosquitoes which causes periods of fever. WORD HISTORY malaria
The word malaria come from early Italian mal , meaning 'bad' and aria , meaning 'air'. People used to think that the bad air coming from the swamps around Rome caused this particular fever. We now know that it's the mosquitoes that inhabit this type of area which are to blame.
ma|lar|ial /məleə riəl/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] You can use malarial to refer to things connected with malaria or areas which are affected by malaria. □ …malarial parasites.
Ma|lay /məle I / (Malays )
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Malay means belonging or relating to the people, language, or culture of the largest racial group in Malaysia.