dress suit
Americannoun
-
a formal or semiformal ensemble, typically for a man, with matching jacket and trousers, usually worn with a dress shirt and necktie, sometimes including a vest.
-
a woman’s ensemble for semiformal or professional wear, comprising a jacket or blazer paired with a matching dress or skirt.
noun
Etymology
Origin of dress suit
First recorded in 1800–10
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.
Buying a new dress, suit or other formal outfit for each wedding just isn’t in our budget.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
It also may have been his own ironic interpretation of the unwritten Cannes rule that men should be "en smoking" -- the French term for a black-tie dress suit.
From Barron's ● May 22, 2026
Victoria Forbes and Mark Lyons carried the wedding dress, suit and climbing gear up Sgùrr Dearg.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2023
Half a jacket hung from a shoulder and met half a molded slip dress; suit jackets covered in minute ruffles trailed on the floor like a train.
From New York Times ● Mar. 5, 2018
She sat in the front pew in a red dress suit, hands folded in her lap, listening to her husband preach about September 11.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
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.
