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Synonyms

evening dress

American  

noun

  1. formal or semiformal attire for evening wear.


evening dress British  

noun

  1. attire for wearing at a formal occasion during the evening, esp (for men) a dinner jacket and black tie, or (less commonly, for women) a floor-length gown

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of evening dress

First recorded in 1790–1800


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:

She said she used to attend some classes “wearing my evening dress under my Burberry, with my diamonds in my pocket so I could go out afterward.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

Items included the "perfect" white cotton t-shirt, a striped blue "boyfriend" shirt and white linen trousers, as well as more formal items such as a black wool blazer and a full-length, ivory-coloured evening dress.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2025

Women’s Wear Daily reported that the evening dress was designed by Alexandra O’Neill for Markarian — the label that the first lady wore on inauguration day.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2022

On a late Tuesday afternoon in September, Diane Sun stood at a White House presidential podium in an evening dress and recited her poem, “a recipe for steaming almost-dragon.”

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2022

This was the first time she had ever worn an evening dress.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

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