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off-the-peg

American  
[awf-thuh-peg, of-] / ˈɔf ðəˈpɛg, ˈɒf- /

adjective

British.
  1. ready-to-wear.


off-the-peg British  

adjective

  1. (of clothing) ready to wear; not produced especially for the person buying

"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 off-the-peg

First recorded in 1875–80


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 21st century has seen a trend for pads, fillers, and surgery to enlarge lips, breasts, and buttocks, but we don’t yet have off-the-peg belly pads as they did in 1793.

From Slate ● Jul. 21, 2025

For instance, an off-the-peg version of Hannah's dress, available for pre-order, presently costs hundreds of pounds.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2021

Her research is housed in a series of three charming little timber-framed houses with ornamental rooftops, available to buy off-the-peg in Bangladesh, designed to be disassembled and moved on a truck at a moment’s notice.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 14, 2019

It fit, though not meaningfully better than an off-the-peg one that had been altered.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 11, 2016

Even the nearest drug store, wary of that row of the transient hat-on-the-peg, off-the-peg, would deliver to No. 28 a mustard plaster or a deck of cards and charge without question.

From The Vertical City by Fannie Hurst

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