drapery
Americannoun
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coverings, hangings, clothing, etc., of fabric, especially as arranged in loose, graceful folds.
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Often draperies. long curtains, usually of heavy fabric and often designed to open and close across a window.
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the draping or arranging of hangings, clothing, etc., in graceful folds.
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Art. hangings, clothing, etc., as represented in sculpture or painting.
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cloths or textile fabrics collectively.
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British.
noun
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fabric or clothing arranged and draped
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(often plural) curtains or hangings that drape
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the occupation or shop of a draper
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fabrics and cloth collectively
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of drapery
1250–1300; Middle English draperie < Old French, equivalent to drap cloth + -erie -ery
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.
Those smoke-stained mirrors, that tin ceiling, the drapery and light fixtures are in fact set-dressed — ersatz!
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
But as the Oxford Companion says of Gainsborough, “Unlike most of his contemporaries he employed no drapery painter.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
The gleaming surface of the projecting figure and a background of sleeping soldiers, angels, drapery and clouds embody the inexplicable moment.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 12, 2025
“Certain colors get canceled out. You have to think about wallpapers, upholstery and drapery fabric. Those are the big things.”
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2023
Martha Stewart sells chenille jacquard drapery and scallop-embossed ceramic dinnerware at Kmart.
From "Class Matters" by The New York 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.
