haberdashery
Americannoun
-
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
The Plot to Kill Hitler
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The Sword of Summer
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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
The renovated Oviatt proved attractive to tenants including a fancy eatery in the former haberdashery on the ground floor that is now the Cicada Restaurant and Lounge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2023
Its shelves of fabrics and haberdashery matched her love of a layered space, which she would eventually showcase in the pages of her interior and decorative arts publication, Cabana, when it launched in 2014.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 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
The federal republic can be a consumer's nightmare, a land of seemingly permanently closed department stores, supermarkets and haberdasheries, where goods lie tantalizingly out of reach behind brightly lit show windows.
From Time Magazine Archive
Five haberdasheries have opened, and five more dry-cleaners have followed Jimmy into business.
From Time Magazine Archive
Hardly a trace of masonry on the lower stories; nothing but plate glass—the windows of book-shops, music shops, cafés, restaurants, jewelry stores, haberdasheries, expensive tailoring establishments.
From The Torrent Entre Naranjos by Goldberg, Isaac
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.
