nightgown
Americannoun
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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:
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
I just still feel like a girl who likes to be in her creams and nightgown, and I also, in addition to that, really enjoy the feeling of working and sort of running on fumes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2025
Dressed in a pink nightgown, Ms. Wilkerson was dancing in front of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan for a TikTok video.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2023
Melinda Bettencourt was still in her nightgown when the police showed up at the door.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 26, 2023
I scramble to my feet, riffling through my closet for a clean skirt and pulling off my nightgown without even asking for the privacy I usually demand while changing.
From "Girl in the Blue Coat" by Monica Hesse
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
Dôen Dôen sells romantic cotton dresses, nightgowns and tops by the Los Angeles-based bohemian fashion brand, founded by sisters Margaret and Katherine Kleveland in 2015.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2021
After World War II, she befriended a woman who regularly traveled to Paris and who began selling Loretta’s bras and nightgowns to wealthy friends there.
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2021
Jackie first, my sister says, our freshly washed hair damp and spiraling over toweled shoulders and pale cotton nightgowns.
From "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson
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.
