gown
Americannoun
-
gowns
plural
-
a woman's dress or robe, especially one that is full-length.
- Synonyms:
- frock
-
a loose, flowing outer garment in any of various forms, worn by a man or woman as distinctive of office, profession, or status.
an academic gown.
-
the student and teaching body in a university or college town.
verb (used with object)
noun
-
any of various outer garments, such as a woman's elegant or formal dress, a dressing robe, or a protective garment, esp one worn by surgeons during operations
-
a loose wide garment indicating status, such as worn by academics
-
the members of a university as opposed to the other residents of the university town Compare town
verb
Synonym Usage
See dress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of gown
1300–50; Middle English goune < Old French < Late Latin gunna fur or leather garment
Explanation
A gown is a formal dress. When your date to a party or dance is wearing a tuxedo, you'll probably want to wear a gown. There are many different kinds of gowns, including ball gowns, wedding gowns, and evening gowns. All of them are worn primarily by women on formal occasions. It was once common to call any one-piece woman's garment a gown, while now it's more often called a dress. The source of gown is the Old French goune, "robe, coat, or down," with the Latin root gunna, "hide or skin."
Vocabulary lists containing gown
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.
See Examples For:
Oleksandrivna, 77, arrived wearing a purple dressing gown, walking with a crutch.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
For performances I would put little chains on my gown and wear bedazzled badges.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Diana wore the daring off-the-shoulder gown to a gala dinner in London in 1994 on the day that her husband, now the king, admitted during a TV interview to being unfaithful.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
It portrays the young woman in a white gown, seated on a sofa inside a room with red walls adorned with paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
But it was no use, as one of the dim boys pressed in a little closer and crushed my gown under his knee.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
He began his career in the early 1960s and over his decades-long tenure created gowns worn by Diana Ross and the Supremes and looks worn by Joan Rivers, Barbra Streisand and Elton John.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Of course, there were gowns that the A-list Hollywood talent could easily wear to red carpet events.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
To market herself, Kusama adopted an outlandish persona, donning brightly colored bobbed wigs, and red leotards or dot-covered gowns for public appearances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
In the meantime, the AI gowns and Easter-egg hunts will have to suffice.
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
None of the others follow, although, when we get inside, there are some women in gowns sitting on cushions and a piper playing a little tune.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
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.
