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

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)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guayabera guayaberas

Onstage, Rodriguez, hosted in his own signature style — no gold lamé, but a fedora, black sunglasses and a white guayabera shirt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025

Councilmembers John Lee and Marqueese Harris-Dawson were in attendance, as was Acevedo, clad in a white guayabera.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2024

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

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

I get my shirts and khakis at Marshalls or Ross Dress for Less, and guayaberas at the Anaheim Indoor Swap Meet or Olvera Street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 2024

Older residents decked out in Panama hats and guayaberas waited for tables.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2022

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

Brides wear ternos, and grooms, guayaberas, or lightweight open neck shirts.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2019

Up and down the street were entrepreneurial immigrants in colorful clothes—embroidered guayaberas and flowing kente and spray-painted T-shirts—hustling everything from mix tapes to T-shirts to incense from crowded sidewalk tables.

From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore