guayabera

American  

[gwahy-uh-ber-uh, gwah-yah-be-rah] / ˌgwaɪ əˈbɛr ə, ˌgwɑ jɑˈβɛ rɑ /

noun

• guayaberas
  plural

1. a sport shirt or lightweight jacket, often with several large front pockets, modeled upon a loose, smocklike shirt originally worn by men in Cuba.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• guayaberas
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of guayabera

First recorded in 1935–40; from Latin American Spanish, further origin uncertain; perhaps from Spanish guayaba “guava (fruit)” (the shirt pockets being large enough to hold guavas)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guayabera guayaberas

Acevedo wore a perfectly ironed, blindingly white guayabera that made him look like a Chicano Albert Schweitzer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2023

She spoke with disgust of Cuban officials, saying she couldn’t bring herself to wear traditional guayabera dress because they do.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 6, 2023

Tens of millions of dollars in ads isn’t the same as Caruso shaking hands at East L.A.’s Mexican Independence Day parade while sporting a light-blue guayabera and looking genuinely sharp.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

Standing in the blazing sun, he looked like a man ready to play dominoes in Miami: immaculate sneakers, dark pants, paisley guayabera, white sunglasses, straw fedora, pink face mask.

From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2021

Grandpa Lázaro beamed from the center of it, wearing the same creased khakis and guayabera that he’d always worn when he was with it.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

Unlike most politicians, who dress to the nines, Burton wore ties reluctantly and showed up at meetings with governors wearing guayaberas, rarely with his hair in place.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2025

Six feet one and heavyset, with a slight stoop and closely cropped white hair, Moretta favors black button-down shirts or white guayaberas when not in his priestly cassock.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2023

Willie and other men from the neighborhood would play softball in guayaberas and dress shoes while she played tag with her friends.

From New York Times ● Dec. 2, 2021

Recently, billowy short-sleeve button-up shirts have come back in style, and the one I’m wearing looks very much like the guayaberas worn by the older relatives.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2021

Bright dresses and guayaberas in front of a dry-goods store swayed in the breeze like ghosts in daylight.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

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