modish
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of modish
Explanation
Something modish is fashionable and stylish. It's a-la-mode, or right on top of the latest look. In the 1970s, it was considered modish to wear bell bottoms. The word modish is a combination of the French mode meaning "fashion" and the suffix -ish meaning "very common." When something is modish, it's all the rage. A swanky restaurant where it's hard to get a table or a boutique selling the newest designer labels are considered modish, or in vogue. Open up the pages of Vogue and you'll be accosted with the latest modish looks.
Vocabulary lists containing modish
Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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The Cat I Never Named
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2014 Vocabulary Video Contest (M-Z)
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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.
Gray surrounded himself with what journalist Jack Anderson called “sharp, but inexperienced, modish, young aides.”
From Salon • Oct. 4, 2025
It is still uncertain, though, whether off-the-shelf exoskeletons can be made affordable, comfortable or modish enough for most of us to wish to wear one.
From New York Times • Aug. 18, 2021
“Portraits of an Era” parades modish men and women.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2019
The fair plaintiff wore a white shirt waist, a dark cloth skirt, a modish straw hat trimmed with black feathers and veil, and brown gloves.
From Slate • Oct. 13, 2019
The modish bonnet with curling white feathers seemed to her uncle a crowning affront.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
