1810–20; < French, after Tulle, France, where first made
Tulle is a type of fabric that's a stiff, fine netting and is often used to make gowns and wedding veils. Any dress for a formal occasion — a wedding, a bat mitzvah, a quinceañera — might have a tulle skirt. Tulle is most often made of manmade fibers like polyester or nylon, but it can also be made from silk. It comes in just about every color, and it's commonly used in wedding dresses and ballet tutus. The word tulle comes from the name of the French town where the fabric was originally made in 1817, Tulle.
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Soprano Gabriella Reyes brought both menace and comedy to Catrina, tossing off her coloratura laughter and rocking her costume of silvery bones painted on black and swathed in tulle.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
And here, each frame is a sumptuous feast of texture, light and color — like a swath of sweat-drenched tulle cast out onto the wind and into the fog.
From Salon • Feb. 14, 2026
Lady Gaga embraced her "Mayhem" era, rocking a high-necked sleeveless black feather gown from Matieres Fecales that trailed behind her in wisps of tulle.
From Barron's • Feb. 2, 2026
While Elle, who hails from west Belfast, contrasted in a bubblegum pink dress with a tulle skirt and sparkly bodice.
From BBC • Nov. 28, 2025
The six tiers of fabric are like different frostings of tulle and lace and silk.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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.
