seersucker
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of seersucker
1715–25; < Hindi sīrsakar < Persian shīr o shakar literally, milk and sugar
Explanation
Seersucker is a lightweight, summery fabric with a puckered surface and stripes. Southern writers love a pale blue and white seersucker suit in the summertime because it pairs well with sweet tea, Spanish moss, and croquet. Seersucker comes in many colors and is occasionally checkered, although it usually has stripes over a white background. British colonists in India were the first English-speakers to wear seersucker. They also anglicized the name from the Hindi sirsakar, which comes from the Persian šir o šakar, "striped cloth," or literally, "milk and sugar," referring to the cloth's alternation of smoothness and puckered surface.
Vocabulary lists containing seersucker
English Words Derived from Hindi
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Fabulous Fabrics
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All the King's Men
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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.
The soap-bubble fantasy of Ms. Lemann’s New Orleans rather calls to mind the Hundred Acre Wood, if Christopher Robin were a gentle, dissipated loafer in a wrinkled seersucker suit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
In its latest tennis equipment collection, the L.A.-based streetwear brand adds a few more staple pieces — like a seersucker jacket and a fully equipped racquet tote — to its growing selection of tennis wear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2025
The denizens of Millionaire’s Row wore white linen, seersucker suits, flowery hats and expensive lace versus the short pants and bathing suits among those who lived in the infield.
From Salon ● May 4, 2024
But here, in every direction, Derby-goers in fancy dresses and seersucker suits posed for selfies, fluffed the feathers in their hats and sipped mint juleps.
From Seattle Times ● May 6, 2023
He wiped off his forearm on his seersucker shorts.
From "Nine Stories" by J. D. Salinger
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.
