drapery
Americannoun
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coverings, hangings, clothing, etc., of fabric, especially as arranged in loose, graceful folds.
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Often draperies. long curtains, usually of heavy fabric and often designed to open and close across a window.
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the draping or arranging of hangings, clothing, etc., in graceful folds.
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Art. hangings, clothing, etc., as represented in sculpture or painting.
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cloths or textile fabrics collectively.
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British.
noun
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fabric or clothing arranged and draped
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(often plural) curtains or hangings that drape
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the occupation or shop of a draper
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fabrics and cloth collectively
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of drapery
1250–1300; Middle English draperie < Old French, equivalent to drap cloth + -erie -ery
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.
He has given us, instead, a whirlwind of active bodies and body parts, of fluttering wings, limbs and drapery.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
Restorations of unknown date have resulted in the exposure of under drawing in certain areas, like the drapery of Salome, and a blurring of the line distinguishing the Virgin’s pillow from the gilded ground.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
The large, angled handkerchief is a subtle formal echo of the drapery opening diagonally above Mariana’s head.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2024
The drapery slyly recalls Renaissance artist Hans Holbein’s famous double portrait of “The Ambassadors,” rife with undertones of deadly religious discord during the reign of the much-married Henry VIII.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2024
There was another man behind him, much older and dressed just out of this world, with a tall hat and glasses and a cloth drapery dress and swishing an animal’s tail back and forth.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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.
