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Synonyms

fancy dress

American  

noun

  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.

fancy dress British  

noun

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

    2. ( as modifier )

      a fancy-dress ball
"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 fancy dress

First recorded in 1760–70

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.

Brazilian police have disguised themselves using fancy dress to blend in as Carnival-goers to target phone thieves in Rio de Janeiro.

From BBC

What if he finds the postcard hidden inside my fancy dress?

From Literature

James lost his life after going to watch cricket in fancy dress, when England played a Test match at Trent Bridge in July 2011.

From BBC

The brave swimmers will be donning fancy dress to take a dip in the freezing waters of the Firth of Forth.

From BBC

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

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.