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
-
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.
See Examples For:
After the first day of Wimbledon, a photo of Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka in a "reinterpreted kimono" also makes the front page.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
You don't have to see the colour of a kimono to know that it is a kimono.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
Australian tourist Olivia Martell-Groves went all in for the seasonal experience, and donned a flower-printed kimono while marvelling at the flowers.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026
I wish Harvard had opened the kimono and listened.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2025
For ten years or more, both of her daughters had often, if impotently, conspired to throw out this veteran kimono.
From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger
She enjoys tea ceremonies, wearing kimonos and visiting shrines and temples, according to her official profile page.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
These works reveal the evolution of Noguchi’s designs for furniture, kimonos, theatrical productions, plazas, gardens and his unrealized “Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Dressed in sky blue kimonos emblazoned with flowers, the dancers twist and twirl in unison in front of hundreds of spectators eager to see the annual "Miyako Odori" in the nation's spectacular ancient capital.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Over the last few years, she’s been gradually bringing objects from her parents’ home to Los Angeles, like ceramics, and has most recently been debating what to do with her mother’s collection of kimonos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2025
We spent most days padding around the house in our kimonos.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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.
