costume
Americannoun
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a style of dress, including accessories and hairdos, especially that peculiar to a nation, region, group, or historical period.
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dress or garb characteristic of another period, place, person, etc., as worn on the stage or at balls.
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fashion of dress appropriate to a particular occasion or season.
dancing costume; winter costume.
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a set of garments, especially women's garments, selected for wear at a single time; outfit; ensemble.
verb (used with object)
adjective
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of or characterized by the wearing of costumes.
a costume party.
-
meant for use with or appropriate to a specific costume.
costume accessories.
noun
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a complete style of dressing, including all the clothes, accessories, etc, worn at one time, as in a particular country or period; dress
national costume
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old-fashioned a woman's suit
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a set of clothes, esp unusual or period clothes, worn in a play by an actor or at a fancy dress ball
a jester's costume
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short for swimming costume
verb
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to furnish the costumes for (a show, film, etc)
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to dress (someone) in a costume
Synonym Usage
See dress.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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costumesimple
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costumessimple
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have costumedperfect
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has costumedperfect
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am costumingprogressive
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are costumingprogressive
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is costumingprogressive
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have been costumingperfect progressive
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has been costumingperfect progressive
Past
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costumedsimple
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had costumedperfect
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was costumingprogressive
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were costumingprogressive
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had been costumingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of costume
1705–15; < French < Italian: usage, habit, dress; doublet of custom
Explanation
A costume is a set of clothes you wear when you want to dress up like another person. You might wear a witch's costume to go trick-or-treating on Halloween, or put on a George Washington costume to reenact a scene from the American Revolution in a play. A costume is a set of clothes that is unique to a particular person or time period. If you were starring as Dorothy in your neighborhood production of The Wizard of Oz, your costume would consist of a blue-and-white checkered dress and ruby slippers. On the other hand, if you were starring as Lady Godiva, you wouldn't need much of a costume at all!
Vocabulary lists containing costume
Party Parlance for Mardi Gras
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October Words
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Reading: Literature - Drama - Introductory
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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:
During production she would have to wake up at 4am to travel to the film set at Leavesden in time to get her Bilquis costume on.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Her day begins at seven in the morning and the next 12 hours are packed with choreography rehearsals, studio recordings, script work, costume fittings and guitar lessons.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
But, he said, his cowboy attire was no costume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
What about a bear, or a fan in a bear costume?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026
“If we were traveling to Spain, perhaps. Or to a costume ball.”
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Fans can also now own a piece of Hope Street history as a local charity shop is selling costumes from the show.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Mauro Tinti created the period costumes, complete with sculpted black masks for the removers of the dead; Antonio Castro did the eerie lighting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
For the tourists' benefit, Vlkolinec puts on traditional craft demonstrations, from sewing folk costumes and gingerbread decorating to mowing and haymaking.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
It’s a farce — a French farce, literally, and stylistically, a la Feydeau, with characters appearing and disappearing, changing costumes and identities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026
During dress rehearsal, all the dancers would be wearing their costumes and makeup.
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
The dancers, costumed in their Saturday evening black-and-white vintage best, added to the parading splendor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026
Like “Piazza,” the very basic production—designed by Liliana Duque Piñeiro—had a decorative back wall and some columns that were moved around by costumed figures for scene changes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Given the group’s commitment to costumed stage personas, the mixed sexuality of their members, and their name, the Village People came to represent the confluence of masculinity and queerness.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
It's Saturday afternoon and the tournament resembles a beach bash in full swing, costumed bodies heaving under the blazing sun.
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026
Campbell was an ordinary-looking man, but he was extravagantly costumed in a uniform of his own design.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
“By Design” cleverly drapes its thematic thorns in ornate production design and costuming, making its emotional impact all the more deceptive.
From Salon ● Feb. 18, 2026
From the soundtrack’s mix of pop hits and little-known, chic electronic tunes, to Patricia Field’s sumptuous couture costuming — not to mention the stellar performances, lovely direction and clever writing.
From Salon ● Jan. 4, 2026
Baxter played most of the parts, bolstered by a riot of colour, fabulous sets, costuming and sharp scripts.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
By “my company will change directions,” Whitten is referring to his sexuality, a personal struggle he details explicitly in a poetry collection called “Save Me,” self-published in 1983 while still on a break from costuming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 13, 2025
But the costuming was only step one of several other strategic changes that Zhang Hemin and Huang Yan’s team would make.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
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.
