costume
Americannoun
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costumes
plural
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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)
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costumes,
present (3rd person singular)
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costumed,
past participle, past
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costuming
present participle
adjective
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of or characterized by the wearing of costumes.
a costume party.
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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)
-
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:
After carefully removing his shirt so as not to disturb the makeup, Laveaux gets into costume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Marver was running an apparel store called Spirit Women’s Discount Apparel in Castro Valley, Calif. October sales were historically slow, but he noticed sales booming at a costume shop across the street.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
In his haunting comeback episode, a man in a "Daft Monk" Halloween costume - a play on music duo Daft Punk - appears to be accidentally killed over and over again by Springfield residents.
From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026
It took about four hours for her to get into the costume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026
Adding to the fun is a new costume change.
From "Camp Panda" by Catherine Thimmesh
Online photos appear to show that the costumes were used again during Saturday night’s show.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Small businesses helped turn October into a major industry, with consumer spending on Halloween candy, costumes and decor reaching $13.1 billion in 2025.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
In Coventry, Adele Harrison, founder of not-for-profit organisation Cov Cloth, runs workshops that teach children and parents how to transform unwanted textiles and household items into Halloween costumes, decorations and accessories.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
One of the selling points of Cooper’s costumes was simplicity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
When I burst into tears, Mom hugged me and said, “Dad is just noticing you don’t wear princess costumes anymore, not that you aren’t pretty!”
From "Maybe He Just Likes You" by Barbara Dee
The holding area begins crawling with costumed characters as clowns, bloody chefs and haunted little girls await their turn in the makeup chair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Chuck Varga, a founding member of the costumed shock-metal act Gwar, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The Jive Bunny album covers and music videos featured a cartoon rabbit, with costumed actors also making promotional appearances as the character.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 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
It was Fate, of course, which had costumed him—Fate, and a feeble will to survive.
From "Slaughterhouse-Five" by Kurt Vonnegut
“The scene works because the sound, set, lighting, costuming and choreography all have to work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The stage for “Othello” is full of George Tsypin’s Lucite-looking scenery framing Ann Hould-Ward’s Venice-inspired costuming, all awash in Jack Mehler’s atmospheric lighting and Wendall K. Harrington’s expansive projections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 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
Bretaña says method dressing tends to work best with sci-fi or fantasy projects because of the inherent drama in their costuming.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
What Lana had seen of the act so far was not promising, but Darlene said that the costuming would transform the performance into a thing of beauty.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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