nightgown
Americannoun
-
another name for nightdress
-
a man's nightshirt
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of nightgown
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at night, gown
Explanation
A nightgown is basically a comfy dress you wear for sleeping. Some people prefer pajamas, while others like nightgowns better. Nightgowns are typically worn by women and girls, although they are closely related to nightshirts, which have long been considered appropriate night wear for people of any gender. Nightgowns often have pretty details like embroidery or lace, and they're made of cotton, silk, or nylon. The word nightgown dates from about 1400.
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:
Steinem described her mother as disappearing down the street in her nightgown, or marooned in bed “with eyes closed and lips moving in occasional response to voices only she could hear.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The babydoll itself debuted in the 1940s as a nightgown whose abbreviated length was the result of war-rationed fabric.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
She found Keke there, asleep in her nightgown with her head resting on the kitchen table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 10, 2024
He then asked her about her arrest, which he said she had claimed saw her being led away from her home in a nightgown.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2023
Bitter turned her head to glare at her husband, and Jam could almost smell her mother’s temper as it began to stir, boiling in her chest under her silk nightgown.
From "Pet" by Akwaeke Emezi
Harrowing footage captured seniors fleeing in nightgowns, as others were pushed down the street in wheelchairs and hospital beds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2025
The dresses of "Bridgerton" look like comfy nightgowns compared to the frothy, highly-structured clothes of "The Gilded Age," where many female characters resemble wedding cakes.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2022
“Why is there a hospital gown in there when I know she’s supposed to have eight nightgowns? Why did everything reek of urine?”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 20, 2021
With their high necks, full skirts, mutton sleeves and lace and ruffle adornments, these dresses, along with prim pin-tucked cotton blouses, lace-trimmed nightgowns and grosgrain-ribbon-tied hats, solidified the “Laura Ashley look.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 21, 2021
I used to sneak my chemises and nightgowns out of my drawer and mend them myself rather than ask her to do them.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
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.
