sartorial
Americanadjective
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of or relating to tailors or their trade.
sartorial workmanship.
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of or relating to clothing or style or manner of dress.
sartorial splendor.
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Anatomy. pertaining to the sartorius.
adjective
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of or relating to a tailor or to tailoring
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anatomy of or relating to the sartorius
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sartorial
First recorded in 1815–25; from Late Latin sartor “tailor” + -ial
Explanation
If it's the day before a big event and you have no idea what to wear and nothing in your closet is going to cut it, you are facing a sartorial dilemma — one that pertains to clothing, fashion, or dressing. Sartorial comes from the Modern Latin word sartor which means "tailor," literally "one who patches and mends." In English the adjectives sartorial and sartorially are used to refer to any matter pertaining to the consideration of clothing or fashion. The root word sartor has also made its way into the field of biology. The sartorius — a muscle in the leg and the longest muscle in the human body — gets its name because it is used when crossing the legs, also known as the “tailor's position."
Vocabulary lists containing sartorial
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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.
Xi’s sartorial choice captured something about the relationship the two men had spent the day performing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
Retaining that approachable, homespun persona while adhering to the sartorial conventions and expectations of Westminster will be a challenge for Burnham.
From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026
The babydoll dress has a long and complex history, one that’s been associated with women’s sartorial freedom as much as it’s reified their cultural infantilization.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
It sold out, and Hockney began to emerge as an iconic figure with his signature bleached-blond mop, round-rimmed glasses and eye-catching sartorial style.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
For a boy who had worn the same rumpled sweater to rowing practice for a year, this was an astonishing collection of sartorial treasure.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
