finery

¹

[ fahy-nuh-ree ]

noun

1. fine or showy dress, ornaments, etc.

finery

²

[ fahy-nuh-ree ]

noun

, Metalworking.

, plural fin·er·ies.

1. a hearth for converting cast iron into wrought iron; refinery.

finery

¹

/ ˈfaɪnərɪ /

noun

1. a hearth for converting cast iron into wrought iron

finery

²

/ ˈfaɪnərɪ /

noun

1. elaborate or showy decoration, esp clothing and jewellery

Word History and Origins

Origin of finery¹

First recorded in 1670–80; fine ¹ + -ery

Origin of finery²

1600–10; < Middle French finerie, equivalent to fin ( er ) to refine ( fine ¹ ) + erie -ery

Word History and Origins

Origin of finery¹

C17: from Old French finerie , from finer to refine; see fine ¹

Example Sentences

Instead, she met her end defiantly, dressing in her finery and applying kohl to her eyes while awaiting her murderers.

From Time

My character navigates through a royal court that she doesn’t belong to, and there’s the threat of violence at every turn amid all this pomp, ceremony and finery—her biggest struggle is just to stay alive.

From Time

Frances Conroy’s romance novelist is something between Magenta from Rocky Horror and Bridezilla with all the dazzling finery of a Drag Race contestant.

From The Daily Beast

Caroline Baudelaire was a good-looking woman who delighted in dressing in her finery when going out at night.

From The Daily Beast

Fifteen men clad in wedding finery, mostly from the Dagestan Republic, were detained.

From The Daily Beast

Burton quickly proved that she has the technical skill and imagination to conjure dramatic runway finery.

From The Daily Beast

The men, in their coat and tails, and women, in all their finery, are forced to hop and ribbit.

From The Daily Beast

Nancy Reagan was a passionate fashionista in her borrowed finery from Adolfo and Galanos.

From The Daily Beast

There was no finery in her wardrobe, a few neat cotton gowns for summer wear, and homespun for the winter—that was all.

From Project Gutenberg

Most of the farmers wore linen dusters and broad straw hats, but their women had put on all their finery.

From Project Gutenberg

The females of these people were very ragged and dirty, and at the same time loaded with finery.

From Project Gutenberg

There it appears among the rugged doggrel, a piece of continental finery stitched into the homely Saxon garb.

From Project Gutenberg

And what with the wedding which mamma always insists upon, and the bridal finery she bestows, the burden is redoubled.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• apparel
• regalia