guise

[gahyz]

noun

general external appearance; aspect; semblance: an old principle in a new guise.

assumed appearance or mere semblance: under the guise of friendship.

style of dress: in the guise of a shepherd.

Archaic. manner; mode.

verb (used with object), guised, guis·ing.

to dress; attire: children guised as cowboys.

verb (used without object), guised, guis·ing.

Scot. and North England. to appear or go in disguise.

Origin of guise

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English g(u)ise < Old French < Germanic; see wise²: (v.) Middle English gisen, derivative of the noun

Can be confusedguise guys

Synonyms for guise

1. form, shape.

Synonym study

1. See appearance.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for guises

disguise, fashion, show, color, mask, demeanor, shape, aspect, facade, air, dress, simulacrum, mien, cloak, role, semblance, form, showing, pose, front

Examples from the Web for guises

Contemporary Examples of guises

This moral ambiguity is present throughout The Hunger Games, in a myriad of guises.
Young Adult Novel Adaptations Put Mainstream Blockbusters to Shame
Amy Zimmerman
June 14, 2014
Which isn't exactly news, but bears repeating and repeating in all its guises and forms.
Republicans Against the Pentagon
Michael Tomasky
May 24, 2012

Historical Examples of guises

She gladly transferred all the power of the realm to her uncles, the Guises.
Henry IV, Makers of History
John S. C. Abbott
They were headed by one Besme, who had been bred up as a domestic in the family of the Guises.
Fox's Book of Martyrs
John Foxe
But it was at Amboise that the vengeance of the Guises found its widest scope.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Henry Martyn Baird
As the summer advanced the perplexities of the Guises increased.
The Rise of the Hugenots, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Henry Martyn Baird
The Guises on one side, and the Huguenots on the other, cannot be controlled.
Historical Tales, Vol. 6 (of 15)
Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for guises

guise

noun

semblance or pretenceunder the guise of friendship

external appearance in general

archaic manner or style of dress

obsolete customary behaviour or manner

verb

dialect to disguise or be disguised in fancy dress

(tr) archaic to dress or dress up

Word Origin for guise

C13: from Old French guise, of Germanic origin; see wise ²

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 guises

guise

late 13c., "style or fashion of attire," from Old French guise "manner, fashion, way," from Frankish *wisa or some similar Germanic source (cf. Old High German wisa "manner, wise;" see wise (n.)). Sense of "assumed appearance" is from 1660s, from earlier meaning "mask, disguise" (c.1500).