negligee

American  

[neg-li-zhey, neg-li-zhey] / ˌnɛg lɪˈʒeɪ, ˈnɛg lɪˌʒeɪ /

Or negligée,

noun

1. a dressing gown or robe, usually of sheer fabric and having soft, flowing lines, worn by women.

2. easy, informal attire.

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negligee British  

/ ˈnɛɡlɪˌʒeɪ /

noun

1. a woman's light dressing gown, esp one that is lace-trimmed

2. a thin and revealing woman's nightdress

3. any informal attire

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Etymology

Origin of negligee

1745–55, < French négligé carelessness, undress, literally, neglected, past participle of négliger < Latin negligere, variant of neglegere to neglect

Example Sentences

Blurring those realms — which the original director, Harold Prince, had taken pains to keep separate — turned Sally, a Weimar party girl in Joe Masteroff’s book, into a neither-world negligee zombie.

From New York Times • Jun. 20, 2023

In an essay published a decade and a half later, Fisher wrote that the iron negligee was “what supermodels will eventually wear in the seventh ring of hell.”

From The New Yorker • Apr. 9, 2019

Swanning around in astonishing high-femme outfits—to comfort a child after a nightmare, she wears an emerald velvet robe over a peach negligee, with cork-heeled platforms—she reads like a little girl’s notion of a grown woman.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 2, 2018

As Goldberg tells the story, he was in Greenwich Village shopping for a negligee for his wife when his pager went off.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2017

I suspect it is the property of Countess Andrenyi, since her luggage contained only a chiffon negligee so. elaborate as to be more a tea gown than a dressing gown.

From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie