- a variation of readymade.
ready-made
Americanadjective
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made in advance for sale to any purchaser, rather than to order.
a ready-made coat.
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made for immediate use.
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unoriginal; conventional.
noun
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something that is ready-made, as a garment or a piece of furniture or equipment.
adjective
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made for purchase and immediate use by any customer
a ready-made jacket
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extremely convenient or ideally suited
a ready-made solution
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unoriginal or conventional
ready-made phrases
noun
Etymology
Origin of ready-made
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
Explanation
Ready-made things are standardized and bought right off the shelf, rather than being specially made. You might have to hem your ready-made curtains, but they're cheaper than having custom curtains sewn. Ready-made clothes are the ones you buy in stores or online that come in standard sizes. Custom, tailor-made, or bespoke clothing is the exact opposite — they're constructed to perfectly fit your body. Ready-made food is store-bought, and made commercially, not homemade. You can also use this adjective to describe something that's so quick and automatic it's become a cliche, like a politician's thoughtless, ready-made response to a reporter's question.
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.
Along with £117m arrival Rogers, who turned 24 on Saturday, Lacroix's arrival means Chelsea have delivered on their pledge to make at least two ready-made signings.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
Authors and academics are often the worst abusers of ready-made phrases and buzzwords.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
"These images may reveal intact patches of bone collagen, potentially offering a ready-made trove of fossil candidates for further protein analysis," Taylor explained.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
Hild and Skinner had come to the session with a ready-made fix: a set of pre-written bills and plenty of funding.
From Salon ● Apr. 10, 2026
Uncle Willie sat in the twilight on the front porch mumbling or maybe singing, and smoking a ready-made.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
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.
