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• off-the-rack
  off-the-rack

  adjective

  (of clothing) not made to specific or individual requirements; ready-made.
• off the rack
  off the rack

  Ready-made, as in She has all her clothes made; she never buys a dress off the rack. The rack here is a frame from which clothes are hung. [Mid-1900s] A British synonym is off the peg, similarly alluding to a knob from which clothes are hung and dating from the late 1800s. Also see off the shelf.

off-the-rack

American  

[awf-thuh-rak, of-] / ˈɔf ðəˈræk, ˈɒf- /

adjective

1. (of clothing) not made to specific or individual requirements; ready-made.

   off-the-rack men's suits.

2. Slang. off-the-wall.

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off the rack Idioms  

1. Ready-made, as in She has all her clothes made; she never buys a dress off the rack. The rack here is a frame from which clothes are hung. [Mid-1900s] A British synonym is off the peg, similarly alluding to a knob from which clothes are hung and dating from the late 1800s. Also see off the shelf.

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Etymology

Origin of off-the-rack

First recorded in 1965–70

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

off-the-rack off the rack

No longer just events where designers use trunks full of samples to sell preorders, many combine the instant gratification of off-the-rack shopping with exclusive locations—private homes, hotels, yachts—and free perks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

It’s the shift from battleships to PT boats, from handmade suits to off-the-rack ones.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2025

Perversely enough, these shows also take viewers into other worlds — those of middling wealth and off-the-rack glamour that seem just out of reach.

From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025

It prevents you from doing anything too foolish, while still freeing you of the compromise of the off-the-rack suit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2024

Although there may be some truth in both hypotheses, this sort of posthumous off-the-rack psychoanalysis is a dubious, highly speculative enterprise that inevitably demeans and trivializes the absent analysand.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

“Heated Rivalry” hottie, Connor Storrie, wore an outfit that looked straight off the rack at your local H&M, but honestly, who cares?

From Salon ● May 5, 2026

Still, these income sources didn’t add up to a lot, so I couldn’t waltz out and buy garments off the rack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025

“A suit off the rack is not always cut for me,” Robinson says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025

Finding glam looks off the rack can be a challenge for most women.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024

Can buy a darn formal straight off the rack and it fits like a dream.”

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

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