keepsake
Americannoun
-
keepsakes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of keepsake
Explanation
A keepsake is an object that has sentimental value, like a locket that belonged to your grandmother. In one of the Batman movies, Bruce Wayne keeps the pearls his mother wore the day she was murdered. Those pearls are a keepsake: something that has great meaning because of its association with a person. Many parents keep pictures their kids drew as keepsakes. If you loved a job, you might have a keepsake from it. Souvenirs from fun vacations are keepsakes. A keepsake is something we keep for the sake of the people and events we want to always remember.
Vocabulary lists containing keepsake
Crenshaw
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Free Lunch
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Charlotte's Web
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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:
The new forge will offer visitors the chance to practise the skills involved and even allow newly-weds to create a keepsake of their own.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
What film keepsake do you wish you had?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
Hurt and in desperate need of her friend, Andie goes to see Iona to ask for her ruffly pink prom dress, a keepsake she promised Andie if ever she wanted it.
From Salon ● Feb. 28, 2026
When the next mission to the International Space Station blasts off from Florida next week, a special keepsake will be hitching a ride: a small stuffed rabbit.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
In a sleepy scramble I fished the flour sack, my keepsake bag, out of my satchel and checked the contents.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
Roberto Velasco, 84, brought a small suitcase and a hard disc containing copies of old family letters and keepsakes from his family in Chile over the 50 years he has spent in Spain.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
While live on the show, James produced "two little doilies", which he took as keepsakes from the day.
From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026
Every doll, every toy, every report card, every artwork she proudly brought home from school and Sunday school, her bike, hundreds of photos, and boxes upon boxes of keepsakes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 22, 2026
Don eventually remarried and had three more kids, but he held on to a big box of Cynthia’s clothes and other keepsakes, including a lock of hair and bottle of her perfume.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
I thought he might be right, especially since I’d already hidden keepsakes in the coffee tin.
From "Beyond the Bright Sea" by Lauren Wolk
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
