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frippery

[ frip-uh-ree ]
/ ˈfrɪp ə ri /
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noun, plural frip·per·ies.

finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like.
empty display; ostentation.
gewgaws; trifles.

RELATED WORDS

toy, frill, ornament, trinket, ostentation, decoration, pretentiousness, adornment, knickknack, bauble, showiness, gaudiness, tawdriness, meretriciousness, fussiness, fanciness, fandangle

Nearby words

  1. fringilline,
  2. fringing forest,
  3. fringing reef,
  4. frink,
  5. frio,
  6. frippet,
  7. fris.,
  8. frisbee,
  9. frisch,
  10. frisch, karl von

Origin of frippery

1560–70; < French friperie, Old French freperie, equivalent to frepe rag + -erie -ery
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for frippery

British Dictionary definitions for frippery

frippery

/ (ˈfrɪpərɪ) /

noun plural -peries

ornate or showy clothing or adornment
showiness; ostentation
unimportant considerations; trifles; trivia

Word Origin for frippery

C16: from Old French freperie, from frepe frill, rag, old garment, from Medieval Latin faluppa a straw, splinter, of obscure origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for frippery

frippery

n.

1560s, "old clothes, cast-off garments," from Middle French friperie "old clothes, an old clothes shop," from Old French freperie, feuperie "old rags, rubbish" (13c.), from frepe, feupe "fringe; rags, old clothes," from Late Latin faluppa "chip, splinter, straw, fiber." The notion is of "things worn down, clothes rubbed to rags." The ironic meaning "finery" (but with overtones of tawdriness) dates from 1630s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper