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:
Notoriously corrupt Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli scarpered in similar fashion, though he was ultimately arrested by U.S. authorities in 2017 and sent back to serve a prison term.
From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2026
Despite being banished in dramatic fashion, she could now be in line to receive £1m per deal, according to a report in The Times earlier this week, external.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Americans could be forgiven for thinking that the fashion doll was launched by Mattel in 1959.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
Her work focuses on the trends shaping what we wear and the people driving the fashion and luxury industries, as well as off-the-news style analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
In some vaguely general fashion, they understood this, regarding the construction of the District of Columbia on the Potomac as a statement of Virginia’s enduring influence over the federal government.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Nathan Fielder fashions a fascinating portrait of Elizabeth Holmes; Mike Flanagan adapts ‘Carrie’ for the modern age; John Turturro plays an unlucky New York pickpocket; and much, much more.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
It was the place to try on all the latest fashions from the likes of Clockhouse and Chelsea Girl.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
“Chronovisor” fashions academia into a key that opens a portal to the past, present and future.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
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
We handpicked our spring fashions .. . and holding hands, we danced.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
For example, instead of a living room, they fashioned a swanky cocktail lounge complete with a custom bar, a Yamaha piano, and retro swivel chairs.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
If he does make it to Chiclayo, the pope will be able to indulge his famously sweet tooth with an array of goodies fashioned in his likeness.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
She pulled out her phone to show me some of her work, which included garments she’d fashioned out of Trader Joe’s tote bags.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Batter’s path was set when, at college, a librarian introduced him to a slender, exquisitely fashioned poetry quarterly called Peck & Peck: “about eighty pages of—and I know this sounds ridiculously dramatic—throat-grabbing, life-changing words.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Her imagination was an instrument of wonder, and she fashioned, of the stuff of her ghostliness, an ever-shifting expression of her marvelous self.
From "Strange the Dreamer" by Laini Taylor
Instead of fashioning bite-size bars for trick-or-treaters, they began conceptualizing full-size bars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
In her book, Chatzky also talks about other routes to fashioning a monthly paycheck through your own investment choices.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
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
One of the regimental drummers played most miraculously upon a drum of his own fashioning.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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