clothes

American  

[klohz, klohthz] / kloʊz, kloʊðz /

plural noun

1. garments for the body; articles of dress; wearing apparel.

   Synonyms:

   garb, costume, raiment, attire, clothing

2. bedclothes.

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clothes British  

/ kləʊðz /

plural noun

1. 1. articles of dress

   2. ( as modifier )

      clothes brush

2. short for bedclothes

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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:

• clothes vs. clothing

Example Sentences

“I was eating dinner when people suddenly started running out of the compound. I immediately went to get my clothes and followed them,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Truman described the atmosphere in the car as manic and said Pitt was trying to smash a phone, with others trying to change clothes and shoes being thrown out of a window.

From BBC

“In 2020, I remember I spent all day doing mutual aid, then coming into the booth to write with the chemical gas smell still coming off my clothes while I recorded,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

“Think of a style as being like the clothes a building wears,” we read in the book’s introduction.

From The Wall Street Journal

The ship owner’s clothes were sea-stained, and his skin hard lived in, but his eyes under the heavy brows were not unkind.

From Literature

Related Words

• attire
• garb
• regalia
• sportswear
• wardrobe