fancy dress

American  

noun

fancy dresses plural

1. a costume for a ball, masquerade, etc., chosen to please the fancy, usually a costume characteristic of a particular period or place, class of persons, or historical or fictitious character.

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fancy dress British  

noun

1. 1. costume worn at masquerades, etc, usually representing a particular role, historical figure, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      a fancy-dress ball

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fancy dresses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fancy dress

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fancy dress

A masquerade without masks is merely fancy dress with an open bar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

The inaugural event was designed for club runners but evolved to include everyone from elite entrants to those in weird and wonderful fancy dress, raising money for charity.

From BBC ● May 3, 2026

Helmets are obligatory for those being carried - fancy dress is expected.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

New Year's Day is traditionally the day when brave swimmers don their fancy dress for the Loony Dook - a hangover-clearing dip in the bracing waters of the Firth of Forth.

From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025

I knew them well of course by now, but had never studied them with a view to reproducing one of them as a fancy dress.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

Related Words

• apparel
• regalia