haberdashery
Americannoun
-
haberdasheries
plural
-
a haberdasher's shop.
-
the goods sold there.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of haberdashery
1425–75; late Middle English haberdashrye < Anglo-French. See haberdasher, -y 3
Explanation
A haberdashery is a men's clothing shop, or a men's department in a larger store. You might visit a haberdashery to buy your dad a tie for Father's Day. Haberdashery is an old-fashioned word for the store you visit when you want to buy a suit or a shirt and tie. In the UK, the meaning is different — a British haberdashery sells sewing notions like buttons, zippers, and thread. The word comes from haberdasher, "seller of small things." These small things sometimes traditionally included men's hats, which led to the American definition of "men's shop."
Vocabulary lists containing haberdashery
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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.
See Examples For:
One worked in haberdashery, one acted, and one’s path was uncertain—but none wrote.
From Slate ● Mar. 19, 2026
Mr. Schecter also bought the former premier a derby and a Tyrolean hat from Lock & Company in London, which bills itself as the world’s oldest haberdashery.
From New York Times ● Feb. 18, 2023
I love the way you evoke the values of an entire class with three vanishing terms: “noblesse oblige, haberdashery, and supper.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2022
The 200-year-old haberdashery Brooks Brothers had a bigger challenge - it never followed the casual office attire trend several years ago like its rivals.
From Washington Times ● May 2, 2022
Two others were in the haberdashery business, one had a graphic design studio, another made feather hats, and another worked in the finance department at Tishman Realty.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Others suggested the British medallist may have started a new trend - and haberdasheries everywhere should be poised for a mad dash of wannabe knitters.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2021
Haitians put down stakes in the 1970s, opening eateries, haberdasheries, tax-assistance services and grocery stores.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2018
Five haberdasheries have opened, and five more dry-cleaners have followed Jimmy into business.
From Time Magazine Archive
Browning, King had a chain of haberdasheries while the late James Butler, founder of the first grocery chain, was still a farm hand in Kilkenny.
From Time Magazine Archive
Cheap jewelry shops, cheap tobacconist's shops, cheap haberdasheries, cheap restaurants, grimy little newspaper agencies and ticket-offices, and 'demonstration' stores for patent foods, patent waters, patent razors.
From Atlantic Classics by Various
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
