fashion
Americannoun
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fashions
plural
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a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc..
the latest fashion in dresses.
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conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., especially of polite society, or conformity to it.
the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion.
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manner; way; mode.
in a warlike fashion.
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the make or form of anything.
He liked the fashion of the simple, sturdy furniture.
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a kind; sort.
All fashions of people make up the world.
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Obsolete. workmanship.
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Obsolete. act or process of making.
verb (used with object)
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fashions,
present (3rd person singular)
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fashioned,
past participle, past
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fashioning
present participle
idioms
noun
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style in clothes, cosmetics, behaviour, etc, esp the latest or most admired style
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( as modifier )
a fashion magazine
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(modifier) (esp of accessories) designed to be in the current fashion, but not necessarily to last
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manner of performance; mode; way
in a striking fashion
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( in combination )
crab-fashion
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a way of life that revolves around the activities, dress, interests, etc, that are most fashionable
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shape, appearance, or form
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sort; kind; type
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in some manner, but not very well
I mended it, after a fashion
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of a low order; of a sort
he is a poet, after a fashion
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like; similar to
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of high social standing
verb
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to give a particular form to
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to make suitable or fitting
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obsolete to contrive; manage
Usage
What is a basic definition of fashion? Fashion is a popular style or trend of something, especially clothing. Fashion is also the general conventions of politeness that society conforms to or an attitude or manner. Fashion can also mean to create something. Fashion has several other senses as a noun and a verb. Fashion means a popular trend or a style, especially when it comes to clothing. Real-life examples: Supermodels display the latest fashions of designer clothing on catwalks. Fashion magazines discuss the most popular clothing styles. We often look back with nostalgia (or embarrassment) of popular fashions of clothing, dance, and music of past decades. Used in a sentence: The pop singer only wore clothes that were of the latest fashions. More generally, fashion is used to refer to what society as a whole considers to be acceptable dress, manners, or etiquette. In this sense, something is often said to be “in fashion” or “out of fashion.” In both this and the previous sense, the word fashionable describes something or someone that conforms to popular fashions. Real-life example: The word groovy was once a popular word to mean something was great or excellent. Today, groovy has largely fallen out of fashion. If you use it, you may be considered out of touch with popular slang. Used in a sentence: Ripped jeans came back in fashion after the popular singer started wearing them. Fashion is a manner or attitude. This sense is often written as “in a … fashion.”Used in a sentence: The man walked through the mall in a sloth-like fashion. Fashion also means to create or build something. This sense often implies that you put something together quickly or had to use whatever parts were available. Used in a sentence: The stranded sailor fashioned a fishing rod out of a stick and twine.
Synonym Usage
Fashion, style, vogue imply popularity or widespread acceptance of manners, customs, dress, etc. Fashion is that which characterizes or distinguishes the habits, manners, dress, etc., of a period or group: the fashions of the 18th century. Style is sometimes the equivalent of fashion, but also denotes conformance to a prevalent standard: to be in style; a chair in the Queen Anne style. Vogue suggests the temporary popularity of certain fashions: this year's vogue in popular music.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antifashionnoun
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fashionernoun
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misfashionnoun
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transfashionnoun
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prefashionverb (used with object)
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refashionverb (used with object)
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fashionlessadjective
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misfashionedadjective
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prefashionedadjective
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unfashionedadjective
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well-fashionedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fashionsimple
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fashionssimple
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have fashionedperfect
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has fashionedperfect
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am fashioningprogressive
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are fashioningprogressive
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is fashioningprogressive
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have been fashioningperfect progressive
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has been fashioningperfect progressive
Past
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fashionedsimple
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had fashionedperfect
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was fashioningprogressive
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were fashioningprogressive
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had been fashioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fashion
First recorded in 1300–1350; Middle English facioun, fasoun “shape, manner,” from Anglo-French faço(u)n, façun, Old French faceon, from Latin factiōn- (stem of factiō ) “a making, company, party.” See faction 1
Explanation
The word fashion has to do with customs and trends. Popular clothes are in fashion. And someone who keeps up with the latest styles is a follower of fashion. The most common use of fashion is to describe the hippest, trendiest clothes and music — we say popular things are in fashion. But this word can also refer to a way something is done, as in "We train dogs in a certain fashion." To fashion something means to build it, as in "We fashioned a shelter out of rocks and mud." But that kind of fashioning probably isn't in fashion these days.
Vocabulary lists containing fashion
Beowulf vocabulary
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Academy Awards, List 5
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
See Examples For:
U.K. fashion retailer Next raised its fiscal 2027 adjusted pretax profit guidance to 1.255 billion pounds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Everyone I ran into was excited for CFDA/Vogue fashion fund finalist Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen’s collection.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
OpenAI, the operator of ChatGPT, usually only offers its branded fashion to employees, but occasionally it goes on general sale for a few days via its website.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
At Miu Miu, Prada's more youthful line, the designer oversaw a stretch of soaring sales that helped buoy the company in an otherwise tough sales environment for luxury fashion.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
“Mr. Haber, we have a problem with tomorrow’s fashion show,” I heard her say behind me.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
The home even features an area Holly lovingly refers to as her “Rapunzel tower turret,” which includes a walk-in closet filled with her favorite fashions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
And each year, it has only grown bigger, with fans dressing up in their favorite Laufey-themed vintage fashions to celebrate the unofficial holiday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
It brings to mind not just dressing and African-American fashions, but also the historically peripatetic nature of black communities due to the oppression of Jim Crow and redlining.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Set in the 1960s, the colorful retro fashions hang off her skeletal frame.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
She accompanied Martha Washington on daily errands in New York, a rapidly growing city that was bustling with shops importing the latest in European fashions and fabrics.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Consider the Van Cleef bib necklace, a dazzling Art Deco piece fashioned with 673 diamonds set in platinum that was commissioned in 1938 by Queen Nazli of Egypt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
And I heard about it, in thundering waves of sarcasm and snark, from old fashioned emails to online comments, a tsunami of taunts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
They stake their claims with an Israeli flag or a Star of David fashioned from scrap metal, large enough to be seen at a distance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
Judge Michael O'Grady KC said: "The word 'wicked' is an old fashioned word, but there are times when no other word will suffice."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
It wasn’t fashioned after anything, but the delicate crystal and pearl whorls had been crafted by a skilled hand.
From "Throne of Glass" by Sarah J. Maas
And here, Walker and Auen offer theirs, fashioning academia into a key that opens a portal to the past, present and future.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
But it is still a big deal: Reeves has not only been chancellor for two years but spent years in opposition fashioning Labour's economic approach.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
At least that’s what Rubino says; she’s putting a special stuffed toy in one basket she’s fashioning, alongside the socks and underwear.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
She directed her attorneys at the center to work with our team on fashioning a plan.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 24, 2026
Instead, I made her a cornhusk doll, painting a face on it with pokeberry juice and fashioning a gown for it with a piece of cambric from Becky’s scrap bag.
From "Chains" by Laurie Halse Anderson
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.
