fashionable
Americanadjective
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conforming to fashion; in vogue
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of, characteristic of, or patronized by people of fashion
a fashionable café
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(usually foll by with) patronized (by); popular (with)
Other Word Forms
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antifashionableadjective
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fashionabilitynoun
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fashionablenessnoun
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fashionablyadverb
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nonfashionableadjective
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nonfashionablenessnoun
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nonfashionablyadverb
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quasi-fashionableadjective
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quasi-fashionablyadverb
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ultrafashionableadjective
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ultrafashionablyadverb
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unfashionableadjective
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unfashionablyadverb
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
That approach, he said, ran in contrast to the one it took in years past, where it limited availability for its more fashionable products “to maintain an aura of coolness around the brand.”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 15, 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
Samuel Johnson’s “Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1755, applied the term fashionable to people above the “vulgar” and below “nobility,” a very subjective space.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 4, 2026
Mama said, “Love is too used to town life and dressin’ fashionable.
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.
