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• style
  style

  noun

  a particular kind, sort, or type, as with reference to form, appearance, or character.
• -style
  -style

  a combining form of style.

style

¹ American  

[stahyl] / staɪl /

noun

• styles
  plural

1. a particular kind, sort, or type, as with reference to form, appearance, or character.

   the baroque style; The style of the house was too austere for their liking.

2. a particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode of action or manner of acting.

   They do these things in a grand style.

   Synonyms:

   approach, method

3. a mode of living, as with respect to expense or display.

4. an elegant, fashionable, or luxurious mode of living.

   to live in style.

5. a mode of fashion, as in dress, especially good or approved fashion; elegance; smartness.

   Synonyms:

   chic

6. the mode of expressing thought in writing or speaking by selecting and arranging words, considered with respect to clearness, effectiveness, euphony, or the like, that is characteristic of a group, period, person, personality, etc..

   to write in the style of Faulkner; a familiar style; a pompous, pedantic style.

7. those components or features of a literary composition that have to do with the form of expression rather than the content of the thought expressed.

   His writing is all style and no substance.

8. manner or tone adopted in discourse or conversation.

   a patronizing style of addressing others.

9. a particular, distinctive, or characteristic mode or form of construction or execution in any art or work.

   Her painting is beginning to show a personal style.

   Synonyms:

   mark, characteristic, touch

10. a descriptive or distinguishing appellation, especially a legal, official, or recognized title.

    a firm trading under the style of Smith, Jones, & Co.

11. stylus.

12. the gnomon of a sundial.

13. a method of reckoning time.

14. Zoology. a small, pointed process or part.

15. Botany. a narrow, usually cylindrical and more or less filiform extension of the pistil, which, when present, bears the stigma at its apex.

16. the rules or customs of typography, punctuation, spelling, and related matters used by a newspaper, magazine, publishing house, etc., or in a specific publication.

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verb (used with object)

• styles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• styled,
  past participle,  past
• styling
  present participle

1. to call by a given title or appellation; denominate; name; call.

   The pope is styled His or Your Holiness.

2. to design or arrange in accordance with a given or new style.

   to style an evening dress; to style one's hair.

3. to bring into conformity with a specific style or give a specific style to.

   Please style this manuscript.

verb (used without object)

• styles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• styled,
  past participle,  past
• styling
  present participle

1. to do decorative work with a style or stylus.

idioms

1. go out of style, to become unfashionable.

   The jacket he's wearing went out of style ten years ago.

2. in style, fashionable.

-style ² American  

1. a combining form of style.

   blastostyle.

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-style ³ American  

1. a combining form with the meanings “column,” “columned,” “having columns (of the kind specified)” used in the formation of compound words.

   orthostyle; urostyle.

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style British  

/ staɪl /

noun

1. a form of appearance, design, or production; type or make

   a new style of house

2. the way in which something is done

   good or bad style

3. the manner in which something is expressed or performed, considered as separate from its intrinsic content, meaning, etc

4. a distinctive, formal, or characteristic manner of expression in words, music, painting, etc

5. elegance or refinement of manners, dress, etc

6. prevailing fashion in dress, looks, etc

7. a fashionable or ostentatious mode of existence

   to live in style

8. the particular mode of orthography, punctuation, design, etc, followed in a book, journal, etc, or in a printing or publishing house

9. the distinguishing title or form of address of a person or firm

10. botany the stalk of a carpel, bearing the stigma

11. zoology a slender pointed structure, such as the piercing mouthparts of certain insects

12. a method of expressing or calculating dates See Old Style New Style

13. another word for stylus

14. the arm of a sundial

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verb

1. to design, shape, or tailor

   to style hair

2. to adapt or make suitable (for)

3. to make consistent or correct according to a printing or publishing style

4. to name or call; designate

   to style a man a fool

5. (intr) to decorate objects using a style or stylus

style Scientific  

/ stīl /

1. The slender part of a flower pistil, connecting the ovary and the stigma. The pollen tube grows through the style delivering the pollen nuclei to the ovary.

2. See more at flower pollination

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style More Idioms  

1. see cramp someone's style; go out (of style); in fashion (style).

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Synonym Usage

See fashion.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antistyle
  noun
• counterstyle
  noun
• stylelessness
  noun
• styler
  noun
• misstyle
  verb
• restyle
  verb
• stylar
  adjective
• styleless
  adjective
• stylelike
  adjective
• unstyled
  adjective
• well-styled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• styles
  plural

Participles

• styling
  present
• styled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• style
  simple
• styles
  simple
• have styled
  perfect
• has styled
  perfect
• am styling
  progressive
• are styling
  progressive
• is styling
  progressive
• have been styling
  perfect progressive
• has been styling
  perfect progressive

Past

• styled
  simple
• had styled
  perfect
• was styling
  progressive
• were styling
  progressive
• had been styling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will style
  simple
• will have styled
  perfect
• will be styling
  progressive
• will have been styling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of style¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; (noun) Middle English, from Latin stylus, spelling variant, mistakenly associated with Greek stŷlos “pillar, column,” of stilus “tool for writing,” hence, “written composition, style”; see stylus; (verb) from the noun, first recorded in 1560–80

Origin of -style³

< Greek stŷlos column or -stȳlos -columned, adj. derivative of stŷlos

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Explanation

Artists, musicians, and even chefs have their own personal style — a word used to describe the unique ways in which people express themselves. Style is a word that's often used to describe the distinctive way in which artists, designers, and other creative types practice their crafts. The designer who launches a line of cardboard bathing suits is expressing his style, even if no one else finds these soggy suits stylish, or in fashion, at the moment. When hyphenated, style can describe the qualities of a person or thing, as in "Cajun-style cooking."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

style -style styles styled styling

They carved a new style of club music that echoed their city’s industrial legacy, and captivated the city’s Black teenage middle class.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

McDermott - with no mid-season international or warm-up matches to fine-tune a style of play - has produced improvements.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026

This sounds unwieldy and somewhat contrived, but Ms. Ní Ghríofa’s insistent, confiding style is captivating and her eccentric exploration has the urgency of a psychological thriller.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

In an interview with The Times, Mayor Karen Bass talked about her response to the Palisades fire, police hiring, her management style at City Hall and her biggest mistake as mayor.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026

And leaning heavily on my aunt’s arm, Mrs. Maroney wandered off toward our comfortable buggy, to ride back to Jenkintown with Aunt Kitty in style.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Led by a Barcelona -style Lionel Messi, Argentina players appear convinced they will put an end to a 28-year title drought.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 9, 2021

At the same time, Netflix -style streaming has killed the TV profits that paid for the nation’s broadband rollout.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2018

She was sent off across the world to spend some much-needed alone time being spruced up, -style, by Osbourne.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 20, 2013

Once executives prove themselves in a given area—say, software engineering—they rarely go through -style development programs to get exposure to a business’s full breadth.

From BusinessWeek ● Sep. 29, 2011

Beastly, another attempt at a -style teen-romance franchise, was third with $10.1 million, a bit above expectations.

From Time ● Mar. 29, 2011

Emma Urrutia, right, styles Kayla Reynoso’s hair, middle, as Angelica Reynosa puts on hair spray, left.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026

A shift in parenting styles means some parents reject the authoritarian style they grew up with in favor of having a friendship with their kids.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

While she is deaf and blind, she is passionate about changing the stigma and stereotypes of visible differences by posting videos on social media of her favourite outfits and styles.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

But while their styles might appear retro, their infrastructures are cutting edge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

It was Aunty Uju who sewed Ifemelu’s little-girl dresses and, as Ifemelu got older, they would pore over fashion magazines, choosing styles together.

From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The ads, paid for by Thrive LA, are styled as real estate advertisements for a fictitious “Nithya Raman Realty.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

The bot ostensibly draws on technology from Google’s Gemini chatbot and Grok, Elon Musk’s A.I. assistant, and the administration unveiled it at a glitzy rollout styled to look like a Silicon Valley product launch.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026

The scientists have also launched Fat Marmot Week, styled after Fat Bear Week, where the public can vote for their favourite rotund rodent in a bracket-style tournament at the end of August.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

Even as he ascended to Goldman’s C-suite, Blankfein said he styled himself conservatively.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

He has darkish tan skin and longish dark hair that’s not styled with goop like some of the other boys’.

From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio

The new Telluride deploys an all-new vehicle architecture, two new powertrains, and fully redrawn interior and exterior styling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026

The kitchen features European styling, with flat-front cabinets, integrated appliances, and lighting beneath the cabinetry.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

But as it stands, it shares plenty of styling features with its famous predecessor.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Steffi Cao investigates a billionaire’s scruffy makeover, and explores why Silicon Valley’s power players are styling themselves to appear harmless.

From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026

Anyway, Victoria is great at styling her hair and she promised she could style it to look like a rat’s nest to suit the character’s chaotic mind.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

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Related Words

• approach
• behavior
• characteristic
• description
• design
• form
• genre
• habit
• kind
• method
• mode
• pattern
• spirit
• technique
• thing
• tone
• trait
• trend
• type
• variety

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