locket
Americannoun
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lockets
plural
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a small case for a miniature portrait, a lock of hair, or other keepsake, usually worn on a necklace.
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the uppermost mount of a scabbard.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of locket
1325–75; Middle English lokat cross-bar in a framework < Anglo-French loquet, diminutive of loc latch < Middle English. See lock 1, -et
Explanation
A locket is a small piece of jewelry that's worn on a necklace and opens to reveal a small photograph or memento inside. Your grandmother's silver locket might not be worth a lot of money, but it probably has a lot of sentimental value to you. Lockets are usually round, oval, or heart-shaped, snapping open and closed and containing a picture of a loved one or a favorite pet, or — in the old days — a lock of someone's hair. These little cases aren't named for hair locks, though, but instead get their name from the Old French loquet, "door-handle" or "latch," for the way their covers move on a hinge and close securely, like a door.
Vocabulary lists containing locket
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:
A diamond-studded locket swallowed by a New Zealand man who tried to steal it has been "recovered", police say.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2025
Between chatting nervously with my daughter and navigating the roads, it occurred to me that I’d forgotten my grandmother’s brass heart-shaped locket.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
He did not say to whom the locket belonged.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 10, 2025
The necklace and locket you gave your daughter for Christmas?
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2024
I imagine a tinkling sound, the locket striking the glass, even though the fabric in between makes contact impossible.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
"Jewellery and lockets, people tend to know there's generally value in it. But when it comes to trading cards and collectables, people tend to overlook them."
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
“The way Nick forges his metals is special,” said Kevin Napoli, who purchased two of Berkofsky’s kitchen knives and a pair of cremation lockets for him and his son to carry his father’s ashes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2025
Gift bags were handed to families, and each group was presented with custom beaded bracelets and lockets dedicated to their loved ones.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Ladies wore cameos, mourning jewelry and large lockets containing photos and hair of loved ones.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 16, 2019
How lumpy our bed was with all her lockets and bangles and her garnet ring.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
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.
