costume
Americannoun
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a style of dress, including accessories and hairdos, especially that peculiar to a nation, region, group, or historical period.
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dress or garb characteristic of another period, place, person, etc., as worn on the stage or at balls.
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fashion of dress appropriate to a particular occasion or season.
dancing costume; winter costume.
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a set of garments, especially women's garments, selected for wear at a single time; outfit; ensemble.
verb (used with object)
adjective
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of or characterized by the wearing of costumes.
a costume party.
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meant for use with or appropriate to a specific costume.
costume accessories.
noun
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a complete style of dressing, including all the clothes, accessories, etc, worn at one time, as in a particular country or period; dress
national costume
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old-fashioned a woman's suit
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a set of clothes, esp unusual or period clothes, worn in a play by an actor or at a fancy dress ball
a jester's costume
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short for swimming costume
verb
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to furnish the costumes for (a show, film, etc)
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to dress (someone) in a costume
Related Words
See dress.
Other Word Forms
- recostume verb (used with object)
- uncostumed adjective
- well-costumed adjective
Etymology
Origin of costume
1705–15; < French < Italian: usage, habit, dress; doublet of custom
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.
“I only tell you this much because I could use your help sewing costumes,” she said.
From Literature
One video from 2013, showing the cat circling the kitchen while wearing a shark costume, has 13 million views.
Blame the 2023 Hollywood strikes along with the reality that big fantasy projects take considerably more time to shoot given the elaborate sets, costumes and special effects required.
From Los Angeles Times
From the soundtrack’s mix of pop hits and little-known, chic electronic tunes, to Patricia Field’s sumptuous couture costuming — not to mention the stellar performances, lovely direction and clever writing.
From Salon
Musk unveiled Tesla’s bot concept at an event in 2021 with a human dancing on stage dressed in a robot costume.
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.
