bespoke
Americanadjective
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(of clothes) made to individual order; custom-made.
a bespoke jacket.
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making or selling such clothes.
a bespoke tailor.
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Older Use. engaged to be married; spoken for.
verb
adjective
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(esp of clothing or a website, computer program, etc) made to the customer's specifications
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making or selling such clothing, websites, etc
a bespoke tailor
a bespoke web designer
Usage
What does bespoke mean? Bespoke means custom-made—made based on the specifications of the person ordering it, as in a bespoke suit. It can also be used to describe a person or company that makes such things, as in bespoke tailor.Bespoke is an adjective, but it’s also the past tense of the verb bespeak, which commonly means to ask for in advance (as in I need to bespeak your help) or to reserve beforehand (as in You need to bespeak a table, sir). But bespeak is rarely used as a verb anymore—it sounds very outdated.Bespoke also sounds a bit old-fashioned, but that’s probably why it became so trendy—it’s often used to imply a handcrafted, unique approach to making something. In its strictest sense, bespoke means made-to-order, but it’s often applied to things that aren’t actually made specifically for someone but that are simply made individually, as opposed to being mass-produced.Example: I found this website yesterday that does bespoke sweatshirts that can be custom-made to my preferences and body type!
Etymology
Origin of bespoke
First recorded in 1745–55 bespoke for def. 1
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.
The same applies to portfolio construction and risk work: News shocks, once exclusive to bespoke quant infrastructure, can be triggered and iterated through natural-language interfaces.
From MarketWatch
It is understood the Scottish government is putting in bespoke reporting arrangements to monitor attendance at the new walk-in clinics.
From BBC
They became the military equivalent of luxury goods—their production constrained by rare materials, specialized labor, artisanal manufacturing, bespoke components, noncommercial supply chains and other limitations.
Yet that seems like an eternity when “entrepreneurs are building bespoke solutions with AI rather than buying enterprise licenses,” Visser writes.
From Barron's
It will facilitate the development of bespoke therapies that target a specific problem, such as a genetic abnormality, that causes severely debilitating or life-threatening diseases.
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.