drapery
Americannoun
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draperies
plural
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
Restorations of unknown date have resulted in the exposure of under drawing in certain areas, like the drapery of Salome, and a blurring of the line distinguishing the Virgin’s pillow from the gilded ground.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
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
The large, angled handkerchief is a subtle formal echo of the drapery opening diagonally above Mariana’s head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024
Opie’s backdrop is a damask drapery in dark green, red’s vivifying complementary color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 31, 2024
There was another man behind him, much older and dressed just out of this world, with a tall hat and glasses and a cloth drapery dress and swishing an animal’s tail back and forth.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Heavy draperies hang at the windows instead of venetian blinds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Her paintings contain visual throwbacks to the gilding and draperies of Renaissance paintings, yet also represent stars from films and pop culture.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2024
There, gleaming gypsum flowers bloom from stone draperies laced with translucent cave pearls.
From Salon ● Oct. 7, 2023
The silk damask draperies and sumptuous beds felt opulent and a nice flourish to the end of the byway and a way to rest up before heading back to Seattle the next day.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2023
He diagnosed me with whooping cough and instructed Grandmother and Mother to take all the rugs off the floor and draperies off the windows at our house.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
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.
