fashion
Americannoun
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fashions
plural
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a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc..
the latest fashion in dresses.
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conventional usage in dress, manners, etc., especially of polite society, or conformity to it.
the dictates of fashion; to be out of fashion.
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manner; way; mode.
in a warlike fashion.
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the make or form of anything.
He liked the fashion of the simple, sturdy furniture.
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a kind; sort.
All fashions of people make up the world.
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Obsolete. workmanship.
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Obsolete. act or process of making.
verb (used with object)
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fashions,
present (3rd person singular)
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fashioned,
past participle, past
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fashioning
present participle
idioms
noun
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style in clothes, cosmetics, behaviour, etc, esp the latest or most admired style
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( as modifier )
a fashion magazine
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(modifier) (esp of accessories) designed to be in the current fashion, but not necessarily to last
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manner of performance; mode; way
in a striking fashion
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( in combination )
crab-fashion
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a way of life that revolves around the activities, dress, interests, etc, that are most fashionable
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shape, appearance, or form
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sort; kind; type
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in some manner, but not very well
I mended it, after a fashion
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of a low order; of a sort
he is a poet, after a fashion
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like; similar to
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of high social standing
verb
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to give a particular form to
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to make suitable or fitting
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obsolete to contrive; manage
Usage
What is a basic definition of fashion? Fashion is a popular style or trend of something, especially clothing. Fashion is also the general conventions of politeness that society conforms to or an attitude or manner. Fashion can also mean to create something. Fashion has several other senses as a noun and a verb. Fashion means a popular trend or a style, especially when it comes to clothing. Real-life examples: Supermodels display the latest fashions of designer clothing on catwalks. Fashion magazines discuss the most popular clothing styles. We often look back with nostalgia (or embarrassment) of popular fashions of clothing, dance, and music of past decades. Used in a sentence: The pop singer only wore clothes that were of the latest fashions. More generally, fashion is used to refer to what society as a whole considers to be acceptable dress, manners, or etiquette. In this sense, something is often said to be “in fashion” or “out of fashion.” In both this and the previous sense, the word fashionable describes something or someone that conforms to popular fashions. Real-life example: The word groovy was once a popular word to mean something was great or excellent. Today, groovy has largely fallen out of fashion. If you use it, you may be considered out of touch with popular slang. Used in a sentence: Ripped jeans came back in fashion after the popular singer started wearing them. Fashion is a manner or attitude. This sense is often written as “in a … fashion.”Used in a sentence: The man walked through the mall in a sloth-like fashion. Fashion also means to create or build something. This sense often implies that you put something together quickly or had to use whatever parts were available. Used in a sentence: The stranded sailor fashioned a fishing rod out of a stick and twine.
Synonym Usage
Fashion, style, vogue imply popularity or widespread acceptance of manners, customs, dress, etc. Fashion is that which characterizes or distinguishes the habits, manners, dress, etc., of a period or group: the fashions of the 18th century. Style is sometimes the equivalent of fashion, but also denotes conformance to a prevalent standard: to be in style; a chair in the Queen Anne style. Vogue suggests the temporary popularity of certain fashions: this year's vogue in popular music.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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antifashionnoun
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fashionernoun
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misfashionnoun
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transfashionnoun
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prefashionverb (used with object)
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refashionverb (used with object)
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fashionlessadjective
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misfashionedadjective
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prefashionedadjective
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unfashionedadjective
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well-fashionedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fashionsimple
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fashionssimple
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have fashionedperfect
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has fashionedperfect
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am fashioningprogressive
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are fashioningprogressive
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is fashioningprogressive
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have been fashioningperfect progressive
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has been fashioningperfect progressive
Past
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fashionedsimple
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had fashionedperfect
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was fashioningprogressive
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were fashioningprogressive
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had been fashioningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fashion
First recorded in 1300–1350; Middle English facioun, fasoun “shape, manner,” from Anglo-French faço(u)n, façun, Old French faceon, from Latin factiōn- (stem of factiō ) “a making, company, party.” See faction 1
Explanation
The word fashion has to do with customs and trends. Popular clothes are in fashion. And someone who keeps up with the latest styles is a follower of fashion. The most common use of fashion is to describe the hippest, trendiest clothes and music — we say popular things are in fashion. But this word can also refer to a way something is done, as in "We train dogs in a certain fashion." To fashion something means to build it, as in "We fashioned a shelter out of rocks and mud." But that kind of fashioning probably isn't in fashion these days.
Vocabulary lists containing fashion
Beowulf vocabulary
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Academy Awards, List 5
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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.
See Examples For:
The move follows the coffee chain’s other recent collaborations with Hello Kitty, the clothing and accessories brand Roller Rabbit and the fashion brand Dandy.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
Her medium is fashion, but she’s using it to build an ark that holds the world.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
He was a true artist and visionary, who has forever left his mark in fashion and pop culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
The 34-year-old tells the BBC: "The real height of fast fashion is behind us".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
“When are we going to eat?” exclaimed the fox in the overly dramatic fashion that seemed to be how she expressed everything.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
The home even features an area Holly lovingly refers to as her “Rapunzel tower turret,” which includes a walk-in closet filled with her favorite fashions.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
It brings to mind not just dressing and African-American fashions, but also the historically peripatetic nature of black communities due to the oppression of Jim Crow and redlining.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Set in the 1960s, the colorful retro fashions hang off her skeletal frame.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Starting with his 2019 breakthrough “Bait,” he fashions handmade movies that eschew modern filmmaking techniques.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Posterity eventually rewards those, like Bach and Handel, who can absorb and repackage the currents and fashions of their times, giving the resulting collage a distinctive voice of their own along the way.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
Standing on the sidelines, the 25-year-old girlfriend of head coach Bill Belichick wore a Carolina jersey that had been fashioned into a crop top and a bedazzled football purse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
And I heard about it, in thundering waves of sarcasm and snark, from old fashioned emails to online comments, a tsunami of taunts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026
They stake their claims with an Israeli flag or a Star of David fashioned from scrap metal, large enough to be seen at a distance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
With coordination and communication, facilities like cooling centres can be fashioned in other parts of the US not accustomed to the scorching heat, Marlon says.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
It is fashioned in an elven-script of Eregion, for they have no letters in Mordor for such subtle work; but the language is unknown to me.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Atmosphere is integral to the film’s success, fashioning the quiet landscape of wintry Upper East Side Manhattan into an ambience far warmer than the biting New York cold.
From Salon ● Sep. 7, 2026
"Chaplain Emma Roberts, 54, and the Labour chief, 56, share the same haircut, brows, thick-rimmed specs and smile," the paper reports, fashioning a game of "spot the difference".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
It’s a nice ending, though it illustrates the difficulty of fashioning a story out of pure harmony.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
At least that’s what Rubino says; she’s putting a special stuffed toy in one basket she’s fashioning, alongside the socks and underwear.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
Like pearls I’d been fashioning down inside my belly for weeks.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
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.
