parka
Americannoun
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a fur coat, shirtlike and hooded, for wear in the Arctic and other regions of extreme cold.
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a hip-length jacket or overshirt with an attached hood, often of wool or of a windproof, water-repellent material lined or trimmed with wool, used by skiers, hunters, the military, etc.
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any coat or jacket with a hood, as a hooded raincoat or windbreaker.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of parka
First recorded in 1770–80; from Aleut or Yupik or directly from dialectal Russian párka, from Komi or directly from Nenets
Explanation
A parka is an insulated, waterproof coat with a hood. Before you head out on a winter camping trip in Canada, you'll want to make sure your parka is warm enough. Parkas are designed to block the wind and keep you warm — they are often lined with fur or another plush, cozy material. The earliest version of the parka was invented by Canadian Inuits, using caribou or seal skin and fur, and coated with fish oil to make it waterproof. Parka is an Aleut word that means "animal skins," and it's also used in Russian to mean "a jacket made from a pelt."
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:
Arc’teryx got the ultimate celebrity boost in China when Chinese leader Xi Jinping wore an Arc’teryx parka in 2021 to inspect venues for the Olympics and again at the Opening Ceremony.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
The crowd are far more likely to spend their day in the sunshine on Saturday, but it will still be blustery and may feel slightly cool – the perfect weather to break out a parka.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2025
One of the supposed ghosts they’ve been tracking has appeared, wearing Annie’s pink parka.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2024
Even before those Olympics, it was clear that barring something unfortunate, Gu had a good chance to be rich no matter which path she chose — or which country’s flag she put on her parka.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 27, 2024
That’s when I noticed the back of a man in an orange parka boarding a bus.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
Puffer jackets cut like dresses and huge parkas topped with XXL fake fur hats completed the look of the "hot as ice" team, as one jumper had it.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
You’re asking quietly if you can model parkas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2025
A hundred workers in parkas and ruanas began to load the trucks, each one bound for a different section of the Colombian capital.
From Slate ● Dec. 22, 2024
The collection includes sneakers, hoodies, tanks, tees, vests and parkas in high-tech fabrics and tones that draw from nature.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2024
I had two parkas, a long one for the cold, a short one for when I was on foot, running with the team, and two light parka covers.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
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.
