clothe
Americanverb
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to dress or attire (a person)
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to provide with clothing or covering
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to conceal or disguise
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to endow or invest
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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preclotheverb (used with object)
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reclotheverb (used with object)
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half-clothedadjective
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underclothedadjective
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well-clothedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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clothesimple
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clothessimple
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have cladperfect
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have clothedperfect
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has cladperfect
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has clothedperfect
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am clothingprogressive
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are clothingprogressive
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is clothingprogressive
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have been clothingperfect progressive
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has been clothingperfect progressive
Past
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clothedsimple
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had cladperfect
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had clothedperfect
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was clothingprogressive
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were clothingprogressive
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had been clothingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of clothe
before 950; Middle English clothen, Old English clāthian, derivative of clāth cloth
Explanation
To clothe someone is to give them something to wear, or to dress them in clothing. If you clothe your dog in cute outfits, you may traumatize him for life. You can clothe yourself, or someone else — for example, you might clothe yourself in black for a relative's funeral or clothe yourself in sequins and feathers for the school dance. You can also figuratively clothe someone or something, lending them a sense of power or respectability. Clothe shares a root with clothing and cloth, the Old English claþ, "cloth or sail," and also "woven material to wrap around oneself."
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.
See Examples For:
“It could be. But as a deceased priest once said: ‘Baby Jesus was born naked so that each nation could clothe him according to its culture.’”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
The agency estimates it could cost close to $700 million to train, clothe and pay the slew of temporary mechanics and drivers needed to deliver passengers to games.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2024
During that year, families struggled to afford food, clothe their children and heat their homes.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2024
“Not only is food very expensive, but school supplies have also doubled in price. I also have to clothe my children and, above all, deal with their illnesses,” the 65-year-old said.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2023
Perhaps we will talk more with time, or perhaps we never will be able to say it all, to clothe things in words, things that have long been naked.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
At times, he has swapped his dance clothes for traditional Nigerian outfits, including the flowing agbada and dashiki.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Noth has repeatedly denied the accusations, including during a 2023 USA Today interview, for which he was paid in clothes.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
In one room, top clients can be groomed with Prada beauty products before trying on clothes next door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Professional life is crowded with micro-signals — clothes, cups, phones, tone, timing, posture — ordinary things that remain perfectly neutral until someone decides they are evidence of character.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
The clothes I was wearing were a uniform, army-issued from skirt to belt and jaunty hat.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
So it may surprise some that Talbot’s favorite scene from “Love Story” involves both Kelly and Pidgeon fully clothed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Over the course of American history, women have been expected to do whatever work is necessary to keep their families fed, clothed and sheltered in sanitary homes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
“We love to do what we do on farms — keeping people fed, clothed and moving. But we have to be able to make ends meet so we can keep operating.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 21, 2026
North Wales Police officers carried out a plain clothed patrol run along Rhyl promenade on the evening of Saturday 7 March.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
But as we were climbing onto the barge, she came running down the landing stairs, clothed in her costume from Love’s Labour’s Lost, her skirts lifted so high we could see her ankles.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
The homes, mostly clad in wooden exteriors, none more than two stories high, are scattered along 10 miles of coastline about 100 miles north of San Francisco.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
They were clad in the university’s signature burnt orange.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
Sacks was on stage with Huang at a live taping, when Huang, clad in his usual black leather jacket, took the call.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Chloe, a Labrador mix, is one of 15 dogs being coached by the startup, clad in customised data-gathering helmets.
From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026
I lift an arm to cover my eyes and notice it is clad in silk.
From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen
Iran's laws ban public performances by women and require them to wear headscarves and modest clothing.
From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026
Inspired by the museum’s Soviet Hippie collection, an archive that documents the suppressed Soviet subculture of the 1960s through photos, clothing and memorabilia, the workshops use historical events as foundations for creative prompts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
Its unusual name -- which means faecal matter in French -- was chosen to ensure that people who bought the brand's clothing only wanted it for the design, rather than the name on the label.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
The rise in transportation costs is likely to bleed through to virtually all corners of the U.S. economy, from food to clothing to construction materials.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
This illuminated the entire room, and now Mother saw that, in addition to the makeshift bed and books, there was a drawer on the floor holding several items of neatly folded clothing.
From "City Spies" by James Ponti
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.
