fashionable
Americanadjective
-
conforming to fashion; in vogue
-
of, characteristic of, or patronized by people of fashion
a fashionable café
-
(usually foll by with) patronized (by); popular (with)
Other Word Forms
- antifashionable adjective
- fashionability noun
- fashionableness noun
- fashionably adverb
- nonfashionable adjective
- nonfashionableness noun
- nonfashionably adverb
- quasi-fashionable adjective
- quasi-fashionably adverb
- ultrafashionable adjective
- ultrafashionably adverb
- unfashionable adjective
- unfashionably adverb
Etymology
Origin of fashionable
Explanation
Something that's fashionable is in style. Your cousin might insist that wearing wide-brimmed fishing hats is very fashionable right now. Things that are very trendy or popular are fashionable, whether they're a brand of jeans or a particular baked good that everyone seems to be eating. A person who follows these trends can also be described as fashionable: "Did you see John walk by wearing those yellow boots and eating a huge doughnut? He's so fashionable." The noun fashion is at the root of fashionable, with its Old French origin, façon, "face, appearance, design, or beauty."
Vocabulary lists containing fashionable
Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 1
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Little House in the Big Woods
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The Trumpet of the Swan
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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.
Hell has apparently frozen over, because “Cats” has somehow become fashionable on Broadway.
From Los Angeles Times • May 1, 2026
And in a market where AI capability is rapidly becoming the primary differentiator for hardware, software and services, being late isn’t fashionable — it’s existential.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
As football clubs look to cash in on fans looking for more fashionable ways to support their clubs, you can expect to see more streetwear collaborations in the future.
From BBC • Apr. 4, 2026
As the demand grew for a portrait by Gainsborough, he himself became fashionable and was taken up by King George III. Even so, the name “Van Dyck” was among the artist’s last words.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
“Tell you what, Loma, I’ll make you a big fashionable black hat with black ostrich plumes to wear this fall. Would you like that?”
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
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.
