readymade

or read·y-made

[ red-ee-meyd ]
See synonyms for readymade on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an everyday manufactured object, as a bottle rack, a snow shovel, a urinal, or a comb, that may by the creative act of selection and designation by an artist attain status as a work of art: associated almost exclusively with the aesthetic activities of Marcel Duchamp during the period 1915 to 1917.

Origin of readymade

1
<French <English; term introduced by Duchamp in 1915

Words Nearby readymade

Other definitions for ready-made (2 of 2)

ready-made
[ red-ee-meyd ]

adjective
  1. made in advance for sale to any purchaser, rather than to order: a ready-made coat.

  2. made for immediate use.

  1. unoriginal; conventional.

noun
  1. something that is ready-made, as a garment or a piece of furniture or equipment.

Origin of ready-made

2
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use readymade in a sentence

  • When a readymade definition, admirably rendered, is at your command, why be at the pains of making a new one for yourself?

    The Feasts of Autolycus | Elizabeth Robins Pennell
  • He spent the time surfing readymade coasters and checking the intranet for engineer availability.

    Makers | Cory Doctorow
  • But he couldn't get even the cheapest readymade dress-suit for fourteen dollars.

    Seventeen | Booth Tarkington

British Dictionary definitions for ready-made

ready-made

adjective
  1. made for purchase and immediate use by any customer: a ready-made jacket

  2. extremely convenient or ideally suited: a ready-made solution

  1. unoriginal or conventional: ready-made phrases

noun
  1. a ready-made article, esp a garment

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012