patent leather
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of patent leather
An Americanism dating back to 1820–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He once kicked a movie star out of his shop because the star brought back a pair of patent leather shoes that he claimed were defective.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 24, 2025
One of her earliest childhood memories is fixating on a pair of pair of shiny patent leather shoes, when she was about five years old, and getting her father to buy them for her.
From BBC • Mar. 14, 2024
In contrast, the menswear collection featured sharp tailoring and shorts, complimented by patent leather shoes in black, green and brown with prominent silver buckles and belts.
From Reuters • Sep. 18, 2023
The new vibe was less elegance and more nightclub — house music, zebra prints and red patent leather — that you might be admitted to if you were cool enough.
From Washington Post • Apr. 22, 2023
She wore a diagonally striped dress that had been dyed black, worn by use, and a pair of scaly patent leather boots.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
