cheongsam

American  

[chawng-sahm] / ˈtʃɔŋˈsɑm /

noun

1. a form-fitting, knee-length dress with a mandarin collar and slit skirt, worn chiefly by Chinese women.

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cheongsam British  

/ ˈtʃɒŋˈsæm /

noun

1. a straight dress, usually of silk or cotton, with a stand-up collar and a slit in one side of the skirt, worn by Chinese women

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Etymology

Origin of cheongsam

1955–60; < Chinese dial. (Guangdong) chèuhngsāam, equivalent to Chinese chángshān long dress

Example Sentences

It was hard not to wonder what Jeremy Lam, an activist who criticized a white teenager on Twitter for wearing a cheongsam to prom last year, would have made of the spectacle.

From New York Times • Feb. 13, 2019

In China, the cheongsam suggested a familiarity with a cliche representation of the country rather than with contemporary Chinese design.

From Washington Post • Oct. 9, 2018

Photos posted on Twitter by 18-year-old Utah resident Keziah Daum showing off her traditional cheongsam, or qipao, quickly went viral.

From Reuters • May 3, 2018

A picture of another woman with black hair dressed in a red cheongsam said: “I am _______. Shanghai is my hometown.”

From Salon • Jun. 18, 2017

After my second run in the Quinhua patterned dress, I changed back into the cheongsam I’d worn to work.

From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu