finery
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
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 ( see fine 1) + erie -ery
Explanation
Finery is fancy and expensive clothing and jewelry. A lot of high school students look forward to the prom as a chance to dress up in their finery. Your fanciest clothes are finery, especially if they're elaborate or pricey. Many people dress in finery to attend formal weddings, wearing long gowns and well-tailored tuxedos. The fancy shoes, hats, necklaces, and ties are all also considered to be finery. The word came into use around 1670, literally meaning "something that is fine," from the "high quality" meaning of fine.
Vocabulary lists containing finery
Beowulf
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Tolkien Reading Day, List 9
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Crossing the Wire
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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.
Amanda Gladu’s handsome costumes underlined the contrast between Blanche’s finery and the everyday wear of the other characters.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 15, 2026
With the glamorous catwalks, celebrities and excess of finery on display, the possibility of the recent investigations uncovering labour abuses being on anyone's mind appeared slim.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
Every night, the gentlemen suit up and the ladies don their finery, although nothing is as fancy as when the family hosts balls or extremely fancy dinners for special guests.
From Salon • Nov. 1, 2025
It is a quintessentially British tennis experience: punters dressed in their finery, Pimm's in full flow and a beautiful setting, with as much care taken of the flowers and greenery as the pristine courts.
From BBC • Jun. 15, 2025
Somehow I found myself also sitting in the cart, in finery, with downcast eyes.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
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.
