cosplay

[kos-pley]

noun

1. the art or practice of wearing costumes to portray characters from fiction, especially from manga, animation, and science fiction.

2. a skit featuring these costumed characters.

verb (used with object)

1. to portray (a fictional character) by dressing in costume.

verb (used without object)

1. to take part in cosplay.

   He cosplayed as a Jedi from Star Wars.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cosplay¹

First recorded in 1995–2000; cos(tume) + play

Example Sentences

If Hungary’s strongman prime minister, Viktor Orbán, remains firmly tethered to the Trumpist right and the cosplay intellectuals of the “national conservative” movement, he also looks to be sui generis in several ways.

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Grate in a little carrot and suddenly you’ve made breakfast cosplay as carrot cake.

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Young professionals who wear what was trendy when they were in diapers can look like they’re engaging in cosplay.

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This is the sort of anti-bully cosplay I’ve come to see often in recent months: Kids I know strutting around with their chests puffed out like roosters, imitating a neighborhood bully who insults immigrants.

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The same shabby hero in one dimension might be a slick villain cosplaying as a savior in another, a la “Rick and Morty.”

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