earring
Americannoun
-
earrings
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of earring
before 1000; Middle English erering, Old English ēarhring. See ear 1, ring 1
Explanation
An earring is jewelry you wear on your ear. Your favorite earrings might be tiny white pearls, or they might be long feathers that dangle to your shoulders. An earring is any kind of ring, stud, hoop, or dangling decoration that you clip on your earlobe or hook through a hole pierced in your ear. Many people wear two matching earrings, one in each lobe, although others have just one pierced ear and wear a single earring — and some have multiple piercings in which they can wear a variety of earrings. In the 18th century, an earring that dangled was called an ear-drop.
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:
Then come the notions and hardware, like earring posts, beads and crystal accents, that complete the transformation from fleeting flora to lasting adornment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
But before the earring could be examined, it was misplaced, officials said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
She still wears a bracelet and an earring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
Former England midfielder Fara Williams says West Ham's Estelle Cascarino made a "schoolgirl error" when she was denied the chance to make her debut because of an earring.
From BBC ● Jan. 12, 2026
The earring is surely worth more than two train tickets.
From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman
At a photo shoot to promote “The Odyssey,” Zendaya wore earrings made from 3,000-year-old Persian gold discs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
She never got the earrings or her money back, she said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
"Tattoos, rings and earrings are the only way to really identify."
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
That you don’t want to be accepting fancy pens or, like, gorgeous gold earrings or an airplane, which wasn’t invented yet.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
G’ma takes the earrings off one by one and sets them down.
From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone
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.
