finery
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of finery1
First recorded in 1670–80; fine 1 + -ery
Origin of finery2
1600–10; < Middle French finerie, equivalent to fin ( er ) to refine ( see fine 1) + erie -ery
Explanation
Finery is fancy and expensive clothing and jewelry. A lot of high school students look forward to the prom as a chance to dress up in their finery. Your fanciest clothes are finery, especially if they're elaborate or pricey. Many people dress in finery to attend formal weddings, wearing long gowns and well-tailored tuxedos. The fancy shoes, hats, necklaces, and ties are all also considered to be finery. The word came into use around 1670, literally meaning "something that is fine," from the "high quality" meaning of fine.
Vocabulary lists containing finery
Beowulf
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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Crossing the Wire
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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.
Instead, Borrowed Finery is a kind of transcription of memory in its strange spottiness.
From Slate • Nov. 18, 2019
"The likes of Mint Velvet, Finery and Modern Rarity are all targeting a similar customer," she says.
From BBC • Jan. 28, 2018
Now they have reached the high street, too – stocked from Asos to Mango, Zara, Finery and Topshop.
From The Guardian • Apr. 1, 2017
"Borrowed Finery," published in 2001, was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle award.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2017
Finery laid off is as unappetizing as the remains of a feast, and it occurred to Lily that, at home, her maid's vigilance had always spared her the sight of such incongruities.
From House of Mirth by Wharton, Edith
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.
