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:
Johnny Depp also made a special appearance in costume as Ebenezer Scrooge ahead of the festive dark fantasy Ebenezer being released in November.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Fellow co-star and Mexican actress Eiza González said her "heart is absolutely broken" as she posted a photo of them posing in costume.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
Van der Velden envisions Tilly not as a single fictional character but as a performer who could appear in anything from a costume drama to a monster movie to a music video.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
People ask me why I keep stuff and this is exactly why: You might get divorced and use it as a costume.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026
He knew a liar when she was sitting in front of him, wrapped in a filthy piece of stage curtain and balancing a broken costume crown on her head.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
The one-of-a-kind experience, for which the pupils wore Moana costumes and T-shirts, came after about 50 children got to meet The Rock in London last month.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 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
There are costumes, in the form of uniforms, and choreography, in the navigation of a packed dining room.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 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
The calendar had a picture of a colorful Aztec warrior standing guard over an Aztec princess whose eyes were closed; both were dressed in plumed and colorful costumes.
From "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez
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
Plus, landscaping with three different budgets, and the costumed moviegoers who love “Michael” despite its reviews.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 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
Sometimes, they even costumed themselves with dusty curtains and old tablecloths, scissoring through the faded fabric with Mamá’s gardening shears or tearing them apart with their bare hands.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
With each passing month, the book club became more elaborate and more involved — including vacations in coastal towns, costuming, pickleball tournaments and monogrammed custom merch.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 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
Baxter played most of the parts, bolstered by a riot of colour, fabulous sets, costuming and sharp scripts.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
All were found to be fraudulent—tricks of costuming, light, accomplices, secret tools, background research, and lots of practice.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
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.
