kameez
Britishnoun
Etymology
Origin of kameez
Urdu kamis , from Arabic qamīs
Explanation
The long shirt that's worn by many people in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan is called a kameez. Both men and women traditionally wear the kameez. A kameez fits like a tunic, long and fairly slim, and can have either a traditional, rounded collar, or a Western-style collar. If you wear a kameez in India, you can pair it with jeans, or with salwar (also called shalwar) — pajama-like pants. This typically Indian outfit is referred to as salwar kameez. The word kameez comes from the Arabic Qameez.
Vocabulary lists containing kameez
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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.
While living on the subcontinent, she wore saris and salwar kameez and enjoyed traveling alone “in part because, as a woman, I had the advantage of special seats in restaurants and railroad cars.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Forty-year-old Dilaram, who goes by one name, has already been hard at work with fellow logger Sanaullah for six hours under the fierce summer sun, and their shalwar kameez are soaked through with sweat.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 26, 2023
His impeccable grooming was at odds with the mismatched socks peeking from beneath his shalwar kameez.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2022
Most wore jeans and T-shirts, or cream shalwar kameez - a knee-length shirt with a pair of loose-fitting trousers common in South Asia.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 26, 2022
She’s dressed in black trousers and a long, colorful kameez.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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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.
