frock
Americannoun
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a gown or dress worn by a girl or woman.
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a loose outer garment worn by peasants and workers; smock.
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a coarse outer garment with large sleeves, worn by monks.
verb (used with object)
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to provide with, or clothe in, a frock.
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to invest with priestly or clerical office.
noun
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a girl's or woman's dress
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a loose garment of several types, such as a peasant's smock
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a coarse wide-sleeved outer garment worn by members of some religious orders
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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frocksimple
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frockssimple
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have frockedperfect
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has frockedperfect
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am frockingprogressive
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are frockingprogressive
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is frockingprogressive
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have been frockingperfect progressive
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has been frockingperfect progressive
Past
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frockedsimple
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had frockedperfect
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was frockingprogressive
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were frockingprogressive
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had been frockingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of frock
1300–50; Middle English froke < Old French froc < Frankish; compare Old Saxon, Old High German hroc coat
Explanation
Use the noun frock as an old-fashioned way to say "dress." You might wear a new pink frock to your best friend's birthday party. Typically, girls and women wear frocks, especially to formal events like weddings and fancy parties. The word frock isn't as common today as it was in the past, though it's a great way to refer to a dress. You can also call a monk's loose, long-sleeved garment a frock. The word's origin is Germanic, and it comes directly from the French word froc, "a monk's habit."
Vocabulary lists containing frock
The Catcher in the Rye
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Bless Me, Ultima
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Amal Unbound
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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.
Don’t panic buy a pastel frock for your garden party or beach soirée.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
Watching from the Mall, Grace Gothard, from Mitcham, made her Union Jack dress draped with the Ghanian flag while Satvinder Cubb, from Chingford made a frock made from two "Lest we forget" scarves.
From BBC • May 5, 2025
It is summer in the Midwest, hot as soup, and I don a frock the size of a twin bed sheet in cooling cotton.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2024
He was popularized by 1980s pop star Adam Ant, who donned a frock coat and tricorn hat and had a hit with Turpin’s famous slogan, “Stand and Deliver.”
From Seattle Times • Feb. 28, 2024
She saw that not a single one of the frock coats understood what might happen if her grandfather decided to stamp his foot on the ground.
From "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" by Gary D. Schmidt
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.
