What are jeans? Jeans are a type of pants traditionally made from denim (a kind of cotton fabric). The word most commonly refers to denim blue jeans. Jeans can be other colors, but they’re most commonly blue. The defining feature of most jeans is that they’re made out of some kind of denim or denim-like fabric. Most jeans have seams and pockets that are reinforced with rivets—small metal fasteners. The word jeans can technically be used to refer to pants made from other materials, such as corduroy, but this isn’t common. For example, pants made out of corduroy are commonly called corduroys. Jeans were originally worn as pants for rugged work, but they are now most commonly worn as casual attire. Like the words pants and trousers, jeans is always used in the plural form when referring to the pants. The word jean (without an s at the end) can be used to refer to the material and is typically used as a modifier to describe garments that are made of this material, as in jean jacket or jean shorts. Example: I love being able to wear jeans to work on casual Fridays.
plural of jean
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Jeans, bras and athleisure wear are often the first items replaced.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
It tells the true story of the seven month sit-in at the Lee Jeans factory in Greenock in 1981 and is interspersed with pop songs of the time.
From BBC • May 24, 2026
Leon, with his Martine Rose loafers and True Religion Jeans, seems to be constantly scanning the room, walking around with his arms crossing his chest and his head slightly cocked.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 21, 2024
"Levii's Jeans" is a funky, bluesy and sultry love song featuring rap/folk crossover artist Post Malone.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2024
Lynn says, “Not all shirts, though. Jeans, underwear, maybe a spare pair of shoes?”
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
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.
