- present tense form of clothe (3rd person singular).
plural noun
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articles of dress
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( as modifier )
clothes brush
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short for bedclothes
Usage
Spelling tips for clothes The word clothes is hard to spell for two reasons. First, it sounds like the verb close, but it is spelled differently. Also, the word clothes is different from the plural of cloth (cloths), but the two are easily confused for one another. How to spell clothes: You aren't finished putting on clothes until you've tied Each Shoe (-es). Remembering that you need Each Shoe, or -es, at the end to finish getting dressed can help you spell clothes correctly.
Etymology
Origin of clothes
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English clāthas, plural of clāth cloth
Compare meaning
How does clothes compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Clothes rhymes with "nose," and your nose is one of the few body parts you don't often cover with clothes. Pants, shirts, and coats are types of clothes. Clothes comes from the word cloth — it's true: Most clothes are made of cloth, or fabric. Whether you wear suits, uniforms, or jeans, clothes cover the body, just as bed clothes is a term for the sheets and blankets that cover a bed. You can show your style with the clothes you wear, or you might just throw on whatever clothes are clean (or sort of clean) and available.
Vocabulary lists containing clothes
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.
Net-a-Porter pioneered selling designer clothes and accessories online when it was founded in 2000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
"Obviously this is my livelihood so without it I'm not able to eat and put clothes on my back, so it's very important to me," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
The fast-fashion company became a juggernaut by pumping out a never-ending supply of clothes at super-cheap prices, creating a constant churn of microtrends for consumers to chase.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
"My friend and neighbours live in this building. I came to help my friend retrieve some clothes and mattresses. He currently has no shelter or home," Mohannad al-Mashharawi told AFP.
From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026
With one other woman who had not “passed,” I scrambled back into my clothes and followed the trustee from the building.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
