mannequin

American  

[man-i-kin] / ˈmæn ɪ kɪn /

Or manikin

noun

mannequins plural

1. a styled and three-dimensional representation of the human form used in window displays, as of clothing; dummy.

2. a wooden figure or model of the human figure used by tailors, dress designers, etc., for fitting or making clothes.

3. a person employed to wear clothing to be photographed or to be displayed before customers, buyers, etc.; a clothes model.

4. lay figure.

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mannequin British  

/ ˈmænɪkɪn /

noun

1. a woman who wears the clothes displayed at a fashion show; model

2. a life-size dummy of the human body used to fit or display clothes

3. arts another name for lay figure

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mannequins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mannequin

1560–70; < French < Dutch; see manikin

Explanation

A mannequin is a human-like figure that's usually used to display clothing in a store. A mannequin in a department store window can look quite normal, but a mannequin in someone's home can look downright creepy. Any store that sells clothes is likely to have at least a few mannequins, so shoppers can see what dresses and sweaters and hats look like on a (fake) person's body. Another kind of mannequin, more often called a "dressmaker's dummy" is helpful to someone who's sewing a skirt or piecing together a suit. Still other mannequins are used to practice emergency techniques, from CPR to water rescues by the Coast Guard.

Example Sentences

He would occasionally break out Jack’s Mannequin songs on tour, but he would not genuinely revisit the project until “Everything In Transit” had its 10th anniversary in 2015.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025

Mr. Cain has just a few vehicles here and there, and a lone Ford Lightning sitting outside, as part of “the Mannequin Program,” he says, “just to show it off.”

From New York Times • Aug. 13, 2022

Le Mannequin references the famous “peeing boy” in Brussels, which also translates to nearly 20 ways to eat steamed mussels.

From Washington Post • Mar. 21, 2022

In 2009, Haworth brought another attention-grabbing feminist work over to Britain: her Mannequin Defectors series, which showed corset-wearing shop clothes dummies rebelling by carrying protest placards.

From The Guardian • Oct. 26, 2019

But in Thaïs, in Sur la Pierre Blanche, in Le Mannequin d'Osier, with what a comprehending sympathy he despises the human race!

From The Book of This and That by Lynd, Robert

Related Words

• dummy