leotard
Americannoun
noun
-
a tight-fitting garment covering the body from the shoulders down to the thighs and worn by acrobats, ballet dancers, etc
-
(plural) another name for tights
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of leotard
1915–20; named after Jules Léotard, 19th-century French aerialist
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How does leotard compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
The tight, stretchy, one-piece garment that gymnasts and dancers wear is called a leotard. If you take a ballet class, you may wear a leotard and tights. Leotards are worn by performers and athletes of many types, including figure skaters, ballerinas, acrobats, superheroes, aerobics instructors, and more. While a leotard leaves the legs bare, a unitard covers the legs as well. The French acrobat Jules Léotard is credited with inventing the leotard, although he called it a maillot. The leotard came to be named for Léotard in 1886, long after his death.
Vocabulary lists containing leotard
You Name It: Eponyms
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Curtain Call: Dance and Theater Terms
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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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:
Now, your costume is a leotard with a skirt sewn onto it, so that if you raise your arms, it doesn't come adrift.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Poised on a colorful, carpeted platform in a gleaming leotard, with a hefty brown braid of hair falling over one shoulder, Folan would spend her program reaching, bending, breathing and twisting her limbs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026
“In six years of showgirling, this has been my worst summer,” said a different young woman, this one dressed in a purple leotard.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
She said she stuck out next to all her other classmates who “were wearing the same leotard, in the same color, with perfectly pulled back hair, pink tights and so on.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2024
I sat sulking while she described her new pink leotard.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Delpierre marvels at the thousands of garments, ranging from vests and tunics to dresses and leotards displayed in a large warehouse near Geneva.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
“I’m still in shock that those leg warmers and leotards caught on the way they did,” Fonda wrote to supporters in April.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
Mac Coronel, also known as Taylor Sheesh, has been impersonating the Midnights star, with an impressive collection of fringed outfits and bejewelled leotards, since 2017.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024
The collection’s layering over ballet leotards and tights elegantly glided down the runway.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
After a few days, Nino Carlitos apologized and bought her an aerobics book full of photos of thin, fair women in shiny leotards and leg warmers.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
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.
