kimono
Americannoun
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a loose, wide-sleeved robe, fastened at the waist with a wide sash, characteristic of Japanese costume.
-
a woman's loose dressing gown.
noun
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a loose sashed ankle-length garment with wide sleeves, worn in Japan
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any garment copied from this
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of kimono
1885–90; < Japanese: clothing, garb, equivalent to ki wear + mono thing
Explanation
A kimono is a lightweight Japanese robe. You might buy a kimono as a gift for your mom when you travel to Tokyo. A traditional kimono is nearly floor length, loose-fitting and with very wide sleeves. The cloth belt that ties around the waist of a kimono is called an obi. Both men and women wear kimonos, though they're more frequently worn by women. The word kimono literally means "a thing to wear" or "a thing to put on," from the Japanese roots ki, "wear," and mono, "thing."
Vocabulary lists containing kimono
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - Introductory
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East Asia - High School
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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.
Then, if I dive deeper into Japanese culture, I think about the most iconic silhouette, which for me is a kimono.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Osaka said she preferred to "shake things up" when asked if she would wear the kimono before her other matches at Wimbledon, with Russian Anastasia Gasanova up next.
From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026
Anderson asked him if would play a karate instructor and sent him a photo of a tiger... in a martial arts kimono.
From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026
The setting is a placid pond, on whose banks sits a plump and serene fellow in a kimono, his eyes closed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
Kiyoshi and the little one would get rice, and she would get a special kimono for Baachan.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
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.
