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.
The characters could be at school, or in a medieval castle, complete in period costumes.
From BBC
All were found to be fraudulent—tricks of costuming, light, accomplices, secret tools, background research, and lots of practice.
From Literature
But I’m also like, “Well, you’re a super famous costume designer.”
From Los Angeles Times
If I had just looked at his royal costume, I suppose I could have been impressed, though gold wasn’t so impressive to me anymore.
From Literature
The scenic decor and costumes situate us in the late 19th century of Ibsen’s bourgeois Norway.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
