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• full dress
  full dress

  noun

  the formal attire customarily worn in the evening, usually consisting of black tailcoats and white bow ties for men, and floor-length dresses for women.
• full-dress
  full-dress

  adjective

  formal and complete in all details.

full dress

¹ American  

noun

1. the formal attire customarily worn in the evening, usually consisting of black tailcoats and white bow ties for men, and floor-length dresses for women.

2. a ceremonial style of dress.

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full-dress ² American  

[fool-dres] / ˈfʊlˌdrɛs /

adjective

1. formal and complete in all details.

   a full-dress uniform.

2. done or presented completely or thoroughly.

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full dress British  

noun

1. 1. a formal or ceremonial style of dress, such as white tie and tails for a man and a full-length evening dress for a woman

   2. ( as modifier )

      full-dress uniform

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Etymology

Origin of full dress¹

First recorded in 1755–65

Origin of full-dress²

First recorded in 1755–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

full dress full-dress

Freezing weather meant Nasa had to postpone the first full dress rehearsal as it was too cold to fuel the SLS rocket.

From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026

She met her future husband while appearing with him in operas in which she had only seen him in full dress in elderly roles.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 22, 2023

But to see him in full dress and going full go was impressive.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 11, 2021

“If they came here, they would be in full dress and would be uncomfortable because people are in bathing suits and drinking.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2019

By six A.M. he’s in the hotel lobby in full dress, polish on his shoes, pistol case snapped shut.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

The second was a dazzling full-dress demo normally provided only to potential corporate customers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026

She is not, in short, a prime candidate for a full-dress biography, yet somehow Carrie Courogen has pulled it off.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2024

When the inaugural class graduates in spring 2026, the Jesuit university wants a full-dress commencement within the prison.

From Washington Post ● May 18, 2022

This vivid, informed account of his life and times was the catalog to the 2017 full-dress retrospective that Ms. Landauer organized at the Oakland Museum of California.

From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2020

But Dad hated unprintable words, and the fact that he had stood up for his son didn’t prevent him from holding a full-dress court of inquiry once he got home, and administering the called-for punishment.

From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey