sandal
1 Americannoun
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a shoe consisting of a sole of leather or other material fastened to the foot by thongs or straps.
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any of various low shoes or slippers.
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a light, low, rubber overshoe covering only the front part of a woman's high-heeled shoe.
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a band or strap that fastens a low shoe or slipper on the foot by passing over the instep or around the ankle.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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a light shoe consisting of a sole held on the foot by thongs, straps, etc
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a strap passing over the instep or around the ankle to keep a low shoe on the foot
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sandal1
1350–1400; < French sandale; replacing Middle English sandalie < Latin sandalium < Greek sandálion, equivalent to sándal ( on ) sandal + -ion diminutive suffix
Origin of sandal2
1350–1400; Middle English sandell < Medieval Latin sandalum < Late Greek sántalon, dissimilated variant of sándanon ≪ Sanskrit candana
Explanation
A sandal is a lightweight, open shoe that you're most likely to wear in the summer time. If you want your toes to show, buy some sandals! The difference between a sandal and a conventional shoe is that much of your feet are exposed when you wear sandals. Because of their strappy form, sandals are most common in the warmest months and the warmest climates. The oldest known sandals are about 10,000 years old, and the ancient Greeks commonly wore them. In fact, the word sandal comes from the Greek root sandalon.
Vocabulary lists containing sandal
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:
Birkenstock CEO Oliver Reichert highlighted the trend during the sandal and clog maker’s quarterly earnings call on Thursday.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The clog and sandal company on Thursday posted a profit of $105.2 million, or $2.03 a share, compared with $368.9 million, or $6.36 a share, a year earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 12, 2026
This includes German firms such as BioNTech, which developed the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in the West along with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and sandal maker Birkenstock.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2025
"Customers want cheaper sandals and can't always tell the difference," said Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a second-generation Kolhapuri sandal seller.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
The toe of his sandal touched against something hard.
From "I'm the King of the Castle" by Susan Hill
The second was a Roman copper alloy lamp in the shape of sandaled foot, discovered by a study group in Kent while exploring what is believed to be a small Roman fort.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2025
Migrants leave home on sandaled feet with dreams of escaping poverty.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2019
Also in this mud layer, the scientists found preserved footsteps of sandaled adults and barefoot children, as well as signs that the llamas were dragged there.
From New York Times ● Mar. 6, 2019
Phil was Bohemian, the loudest guy in the grillroom, sandaled and Southern Californian.
From Golf Digest ● Jun. 27, 2018
My father scoots forward on the sofa, so that his sandaled feet skim the floor.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
Sometimes Joseph, in his slapdash style, put in too much, and the bubbles outgrew the fountain, creating ever-widening concentric foam rings that burst their fragile stickiness on someone’s sandalled foot.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019
I could see their sandalled feet, the hems of their clothes.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 6, 2018
You sense from the hands, arms, neck, and one bare shoulder, and the sandalled feet, the whole of a gaunt, sinewy body, which you can all but smell.
From The New Yorker ● Mar. 2, 2015
With no wasted episodes, Spartacus never drags its sandalled feet.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 18, 2013
I began to emerge from my cavern, and just managed to catch a glimpse of some peaked hats, carbines, and sandalled legs, which soon disappeared for ever from my view.
From Tales of the Wonder Club Volume I by M. Y. Halidom
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.
