finery

¹ American  

[fahy-nuh-ree] / ˈfaɪ nə ri /

noun

1. fine or showy dress, ornaments, etc.

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finery ² American  

[fahy-nuh-ree] / ˈfaɪ nə ri /

noun

Metalworking.

• fineries
  plural

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

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finery ¹ British  

/ ˈfaɪnərɪ /

noun

1. elaborate or showy decoration, esp clothing and jewellery

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finery ² British  

/ ˈfaɪnərɪ /

noun

1. a hearth for converting cast iron into wrought iron

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fineries
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

finery fineries

The focal point of Ashenda festival, which traditionally draws thousands of young women dressed in their finery, was to be a mass gathering at a stadium in Mekelle on Saturday.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

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

In Lockhart, after conducting our business, Harry loitered on the corner so he could admire the figures of the ladies strolling by, exhibiting the latest finery from the local milliner.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

While most festivalgoers don the likes of velvet, bodices, feathered caps and other fineries, Matthews and his friends coordinated peasant-inspired costumes in an effort to represent the everyman.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2022

The burial site, and particularly the crown and other fineries interred with the woman, hinted at a premodern European culture in which women might have held considerable power.

From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021

A cathedral can endure the loss of its stained glass and other fineries, as has happened in Britain where all our cathedrals were vandalised in the Reformation and civil war.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 16, 2019

Beyond the constant dialectic between streetwear and ladylike fineries - the sweatshirts and pencil skirts were worn together - the collection was also playing with opacity and transparency.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 7, 2011

It was like living in a novelette, to attend a bride who wore pink and white fineries in the morning, and looked as if she had never done a hand’s turn in her life.

From Lady Cassandra by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey

Related Words

• apparel
• regalia