frill

American  

[fril] / frɪl /

noun

frills plural

1. a trimming, as a strip of cloth or lace, gathered at one edge and left loose at the other; ruffle.

2. something resembling such a trimming, as the fringe of hair on the chest of some dogs.

3. affectation of manner, style, etc.

4. something superfluous.

5. Photography. wrinkling or loosening of an emulsion at the edges, usually due to excessively high temperature during developing.

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verb (used with object)

1. to trim or ornament with a frill or frills.

2. to form into a frill.

verb (used without object)

1. Photography. (of an emulsion) to become wrinkled or loose.

frill British  

/ frɪl /

noun

1. a gathered, ruched, or pleated strip of cloth sewn on at one edge only, as on garments, as ornament, or to give extra body

2. a ruff of hair or feathers around the neck of a dog or bird or a fold of skin around the neck of a reptile or amphibian

3. Full name: oriental frill.  (often capital) a variety of domestic fancy pigeon having a ruff of curled feathers on the chest and crop

4. photog a wrinkling or loosening of the emulsion at the edges of a negative or print

5. informal (often plural) a superfluous or pretentious thing or manner; affectation

   he made a plain speech with no frills

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verb

1. (tr) to adorn or fit with a frill or frills

2. to form into a frill or frills

3. (intr) photog (of an emulsion) to develop a frill

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• friller
  noun
• frilliness
  noun
• unfrill
  verb (used with object)
• frilly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• frills
  plural

Etymology

Origin of frill

First recorded in 1585–95; origin uncertain

Explanation

Use the noun frill when you talk about a decorative strip used as trim. You might have a frill along the bottom of your favorite skirt. The pleated trim or ruffle at the hem of a sweater or along the bottom of a sofa slipcover can be called a frill. You can also use the word in a more figurative way, to describe anything that's merely extra or for decoration: "The beginning of his speech was nothing but a frill," or "We need to work on our budget — first, let's cut out the frills, like getting our shoes shined and eating out every night."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

frill frills

Measuring about five metres long and weighing two tonnes, the four-legged beasts had large heads, adorned with a distinctive bony frill and three horns.

From BBC ● May 19, 2025

Color was a frill, and perhaps an illusion.

From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2024

The subject doesn’t require a lot of rhetorical frill to have its effect.

From Slate ● Aug. 23, 2024

And its frill was unlike any described so far: Not only did it sport two large, curved horns, it also boasted two spikes in the middle, one longer than the other.

From Science Magazine ● Jun. 20, 2024

It had a moldy-looking lace frill at the collar and matching lace cuffs.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

You can’t see those frills and not think, ‘I want to be her.’

From Salon ● Apr. 12, 2026

At $599 and up, it’s a decent utilitarian option, though this year, it’s getting some new frills: MagSafe for magnetic snap-on accessories, stronger display glass and double the storage capacity, starting at 256 GB.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

"We'll celebrate at home, modestly, with no frills," she said.

From Barron's ● Dec. 31, 2025

Designers featured frills, fabric layers and ruching in a variety of colours and styles, meaning you could easily re-fashion your own items to reflect the mismatched clothes on display here.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025

“Eh—what? Oh, get along, girl, get along. I’ve no time for such frills and furbelows.”

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers