Synonyms

modiste

American

[moh-deest, maw-deest] / moʊˈdist, mɔˈdist /

noun

plural

modistes

Older Use. a female maker of or dealer in women's fashionable attire.

modiste British

/ məʊˈdiːst /

noun

a fashionable dressmaker or milliner

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of modiste

From French, dating back to 1830–40; mode ², -ist

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.

With a sentence, she can send customers to the modiste or suitors away from annoying Cressida Cowper.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2022

From the Duke of Hastings to Daphne to the modiste, each character harbors their own secrets.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2021

If I couldn’t make a living breaking horses, I could always be a modiste.

From The Verge • Mar. 1, 2018

The red-headed modiste, with two arrests for larceny against her, had been implicated in the kidnapping of Dr. Isaac Dee Kelley in 1931.

From Time Magazine Archive

Being limited in materials, due to shortages and rationing, she used a gorgeous sunset-colored wool that she had unraveled from a suit tailored for her by Ormaie’s most expensive modiste in 1912.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023