personal effects

American

plural noun

privately owned articles consisting chiefly of clothing, toilet items, etc., for intimate use by an individual.

Etymology

Origin of personal effects

First recorded in 1835–45

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.

After receiving the report from the mountaineers, officers reached the site by helicopter to collect the remains and personal effects from the Ober Gabelhorn glacier.

From Barron's • Nov. 12, 2025

Ours is an era when every shred of ephemera is for sale, so why wouldn’t a mourning son attempt to liquidate a killer’s personal effects to claim compensation for his mother’s death?

From Salon • Oct. 29, 2025

Under that water, buildings, statuary, coins and royal personal effects came to rest, and waited to be found.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 14, 2025

She knew she would eventually resume teaching, but everything inside her classroom — personal effects, teaching tools and supplies — was gone.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 18, 2025

My personal effects in tow, the three of us walk next door where Theo has, as I’d hoped and predicted, left his door unlocked.

From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023