civilian clothes
Americanplural noun
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everyday or ordinary clothing, as distinguished from a military uniform.
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Informal. ordinary clothing as distinguished from a uniform, clerical garb, or work clothes.
Etymology
Origin of civilian clothes
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
Its officers, who wear civilian clothes, have a network of undercover agents and informants dedicated to monitoring and infiltrating dissident movements and independent groups such as art collectives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Corporal Ismaila Ceesay, a 28-year-old information management specialist from Stratford, east London, said part of the exercise was arriving in civilian clothes and changing into uniform only once through the secure barriers.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
Machado said a group of heavily armed men in civilian clothes seized Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, in the Los Chorros district of Caracas.
From Barron's ● Feb. 9, 2026
He repeats the tall tales, and he sympathizes with their struggles with wanderlust and the challenge of finding civilian clothes that fit and are affordable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Working in civilian clothes he has confiscated tons of sugar and then watched it disappear from the warehouses, as if through a funnel he is sure leads back into the street.
From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston
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.
