frilly
Americanadjective
-
covered with or marked by frills.
Some of the more elaborate dress shirts have frilly fronts.
-
frivolous; inconsequential.
After a day of intense concentration and serious business, they feel like doing something frilly and amusing.
Other Word Forms
- frilliness noun
- unfrilly adjective
Etymology
Origin of frilly
Explanation
Frilly things are lacy, decorative, or ruffled. A little girl might refuse to wear a frilly dress on the first day of school, preferring instead to wear overalls and purple rain boots. Your grandma might have a favorite frilly apron that she wears when she bakes, and your cousin might dream of wearing a frilly white gown when she gets married. Frilly curtains are probably too cute and fussy for your kitchen if your decorating style is clean and modern. Even language can be described, figuratively, as frilly if it's showy or overly fancy.
Vocabulary lists containing frilly
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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The Thing About Jellyfish
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Coraline
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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.
It is all preparation of frilly dresses, cakes, deviled eggs, and the anticipation of proper dancing and other carefully prescribed and restrained social interactions between the sexes.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 2, 2026
Chloe's ethereal runway featured floral bustiers and elegantly ruched tops and dresses, whilst Moschino's models wore ruched, frilly two-pieces in clashing colours.
From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025
A woman with tears in her eyes showed me the frilly pink pussyhat she originally acquired in 2017.
From Slate • Apr. 9, 2025
One of the most multifaceted ingredients, it's a multi-layered bulb around a dense core with sprouting stalks and frilly fronds.
From Salon • Mar. 23, 2025
Then she’d dressed me in the most ridiculous dress — deep blue, frilly and off the shoulders, with French tags I couldn’t read — a dress more suitable for a runway than Forks.
From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer
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.
