costume
Americannoun
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costumes
plural
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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)
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costumes,
present (3rd person singular)
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costumed,
past participle, past
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costuming
present participle
adjective
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of or characterized by the wearing of costumes.
a costume party.
-
meant for use with or appropriate to a specific costume.
costume accessories.
noun
-
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)
-
to dress (someone) in a costume
Synonym Usage
See dress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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costumesimple
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costumessimple
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have costumedperfect
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has costumedperfect
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am costumingprogressive
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are costumingprogressive
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is costumingprogressive
-
have been costumingperfect progressive
-
has been costumingperfect progressive
Past
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costumedsimple
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had costumedperfect
-
was costumingprogressive
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were costumingprogressive
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had been costumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of costume
1705–15; < French < Italian: usage, habit, dress; doublet of custom
Explanation
A costume is a set of clothes you wear when you want to dress up like another person. You might wear a witch's costume to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, or put on a George Washington costume to reenact a scene from the American Revolution in a play. A costume is a set of clothes that is unique to a particular person or time period. If you were starring as Dorothy in your neighborhood production of The Wizard of Oz, your costume would consist of a blue-and-white checkered dress and ruby slippers. On the other hand, if you were starring as Lady Godiva, you wouldn't need much of a costume at all!
Vocabulary lists containing costume
Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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October Words
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
It took about four hours for her to get into the costume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Sorkin never saw him out of costume on set.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Not only does she seize her moment, she even briefly slips into Misty’s old “Red Eye” costume: a Jackie-esque stewardess skirt suit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Ethnographer Imre Romsics said paprika became an important symbol of Hungarian identity during the 19th century, "alongside costume, folk art and other traditions".
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
In this bizarre getup, Hudson made a grand entrance into a party at the whaling station, only to find himself the sole person in costume.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
Harvir Dhillon, lead economist at the British Retail Consortium, said at this time of year "retailers will be competing hard" as they see "greater demand for sweets and chocolate, as well as decorations and costumes".
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Last year, it saw its busiest October to date, with customers individually spending an average of £40 on fancy costumes and accessories.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Denny and Hector are wearing the same costumes and masks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Alan Cumming is in his dressing room on the set of “The Traitors,” where a rack of flamboyant costumes hangs behind him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
They see the nuance of the costumes, the intricacy of the signs.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Chuck Varga, a founding member of the costumed shock-metal act Gwar, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Jive Bunny album covers and music videos featured a cartoon rabbit, with costumed actors also making promotional appearances as the character.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Given the group’s commitment to costumed stage personas, the mixed sexuality of their members, and their name, the Village People came to represent the confluence of masculinity and queerness.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Company dancer Lloyd Knight, costumed as the Preacher in “Spring” and captured in a determined stance on a boulder, faces the book’s last page, which quotes Graham: “Dancers are the messengers of the gods.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
It was Fate, of course, which had costumed him—Fate, and a feeble will to survive.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
The Envelope spoke to the costuming teams behind these Emmy-nominated series about toast-worthy guest attire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
This isn’t the kind of film that gets Oscar nominations, but Arianne Phillips and Monica Chamberlain’s bonkers costuming, all candy colors and asymmetrical shapes, deserves recognition, or at least awe.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
They didn’t get to figure out staging, costuming and what made a good Beatle setlist.
From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026
With each passing month, the book club became more elaborate and more involved — including vacations in coastal towns, costuming, pickleball tournaments and monogrammed custom merch.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
What Lana had seen of the act so far was not promising, but Darlene said that the costuming would transform the performance into a thing of beauty.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
