corduroys
Britishplural noun
Explanation
Corduroys are a kind of pants or trousers made from a soft, ridged fabric called corduroy. When jeans seem a little bit too casual, you might decide to wear your orange corduroys instead. Corduroys are often cut exactly like jeans, the only difference being in the cloth from which they're made — corduroy instead of denim. Both fabrics are traditionally woven from cotton, but corduroy's twisted fibers, or cords, form a ridged, raised pattern you can feel with your fingertips. It's commonly said the word comes from the French corde du roi, "cord of the king," though experts aren't convinced of this source.
Vocabulary lists containing corduroys
Al Capone Does My Shirts
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The Moon Within
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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.
As a young lad growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Pittsburg, my school uniform consisted of corduroys the color of Ash Wednesday, a white dress shirt and a maroon V-neck sweater.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 26, 2025
Dressed in pink corduroys, a black hoodie and white sneakers, he was charming and sweet, jokey one second and quietly reflective the next.
From New York Times • May 6, 2024
A similar remark was made when Jeffries evaluated a pair of women corduroys which he deemed were too masculine.
From Salon • Apr. 20, 2022
Sepia, the reddish brown hue associated with the monochrome images of early cinema, was evoked in printed baggy corduroys and an emerald green leather jacket evoked the start of technicolor.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 21, 2022
Jesse grinned at Fulcher’s back and stuck his hands into the pockets of his corduroys, wriggling his right forefinger through the hole.
From "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson
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.
