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suit

[ soot ]

/ sut /

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See synonyms for: suit / suited / suiting / suits on Thesaurus.com

noun

a set of clothing, armor, or the like, intended for wear together.

a set of men's garments of the same color and fabric, consisting of trousers, a jacket, and sometimes a vest.

a similarly matched set consisting of a skirt and jacket, and sometimes a topcoat or blouse, worn by women.

any costume worn for some special activity: a running suit.

Often suits .Slang. an executive, manager, or official, especially one regarded as a faceless decision maker.

Law. the act, the process, or an instance of suing in a court of law; legal prosecution; lawsuit.

Cards.

one of the four sets or classes (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) into which a common deck of playing cards is divided.
the aggregate of cards belonging to one of these sets held in a player's hand at one time: Spades were his long suit.
one of various sets or classes into which less common decks of cards are divided, as lances, hammers, etc., found in certain decks formerly used or used in fortune telling.

suite (defs. 1-3, 5).

the wooing or courting of a woman: She rejected his suit.

the act of making a petition or an appeal.

a petition, as to a person of rank or station.

Also called set. Nautical. a complete group of sails for a boat.

one of the seven classes into which a standard set of 28 dominoes may be divided by matching the numbers on half the face of each: a three suit contains the 3-blank, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 3-5, and 3-6. Since each such suit contains one of each of the other possible suits, only one complete suit is available per game.

verb (used with object)

to make appropriate, adapt, or accommodate, as one thing to another: to suit the punishment to the crime.

to be appropriate or becoming to: Blue suits you very well.

to be or prove satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable to; satisfy or please: The arrangements suit me.

to provide with a suit, as of clothing or armor; clothe; array.

verb (used without object)

to be appropriate or suitable; accord.

to be satisfactory, agreeable, or acceptable.

Verb Phrases

suit up, to dress in a uniform or special suit.

VIDEO FOR SUIT

How Did "Suit" Become An Insult?

You may have heard people refer to (and by refer we mean insult) out-of-touch businessmen as "suits." Which makes sense considering the word’s origin ...

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QUIZ

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Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

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Idioms about suit

follow suit,

Cards. to play a card of the same suit as that led.
to follow the example of another: The girl jumped over the fence, and her playmates followed suit.

suit oneself, to do what one wants to do or what is best for oneself, without regard for others (often used imperatively): I don’t agree with you, but okay, suit yourself.

Origin of suit

1250–1300; Middle English siute, sute, suite (noun) <Anglo-French, Old French, akin to sivre to follow. See sue, suite

OTHER WORDS FROM suit

suitlike, adjectivecoun·ter·suit, nounre·suit, noun, verb (used with object)un·der·suit, noun

un·der·suit, verb (used with object)

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH suit

suit , suite

Words nearby suit

suimate, suint, suiplap, Suisse, Suisun City, suit, Suita, suitable, suitcase, suit down to the ground, suit-dress

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use suit in a sentence

The question now is if more countries — like Oman and Sudan — will follow suit.
Trump announces that Bahrain will normalize relations with Israel|Alex Ward|September 11, 2020|Vox
If that effort fails, the agency can then bring suit against the company.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Confirms a Pattern of Age Discrimination at IBM|by Peter Gosselin, special to ProPublica|September 11, 2020|ProPublica
Epic has filed a separate suit with similar claims against Google.
Apple countersues Epic over ‘unlawful’ Fortnite payment system|Verne Kopytoff|September 8, 2020|Fortune
WNBA players have been leading on social justice issues for a while now, and once the NBA players decided not to play, it made sense that WNBA players would follow suit.
What Happened In The NBA This Week?|Sara Ziegler (sara.ziegler@fivethirtyeight.com)|August 28, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

Three state attorneys general have filed suits related to recent changes in the postal service.
USPS delays threaten women’s access to birth control|ehinchliffe|August 27, 2020|Fortune
San Francisco was the first city to pass one in 2006; since then, 14 other cities and three states have followed suit.
Christie Blames Parents for Bad Economy|Monica Potts|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Eventually, DeCrow and Seidenberg filed suit against the East Village mainstay.
The Bars That Made America Great|Nina Strochlic|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The pieces are near-identical, excepting the signature buttons on the Chanel suit and a few small tailoring details.
The Big Business of Fashion Counterfeits|Lizzie Crocker|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We meet in his study, where Hitchcock sits waiting, dressed in his black suit.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had a tailor who ran up dozens of the same suit in different sizes to account for slight variations in his weight.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days|David Freeman|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Behold a dumpy, comfortable British paterfamilias in a light flannel suit and a faded sun hat.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
He is what the bill wishes to make for us, a regular root doctor, and will suit the place exactly.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
We had three long tables which Liszt arranged to suit himself, his own place being in the middle.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy Fay
Not a dollar did he possess—not even did he have a suit of clothes any more, and wore every day his corduroys.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
When Dan put his tobacco back unbitten, it was always an infallible sign that something had gone in a way that did not suit him.
The Courier of the Ozarks|Byron A. Dunn

British Dictionary definitions for suit

suit

/ (suːt, sjuːt) /

noun

any set of clothes of the same or similar material designed to be worn together, now usually (for men) a jacket with matching trousers or (for women) a jacket with matching or contrasting skirt or trousers

(in combination) any outfit worn for a specific purposea spacesuit

any set of items, such as the full complement of sails of a vessel or parts of personal armour

any of the four sets of 13 cards in a pack of playing cards, being spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs. The cards in each suit are two to ten, jack, queen, and king in the usual order of ascending value, with ace counting as either the highest or lowest according to the game

a civil proceeding; lawsuit

the act or process of suing in a court of law

a petition or appeal made to a person of superior rank or status or the act of making such a petition

slang a business executive or white-collar manager

a man's courting of a woman

follow suit

to play a card of the same suit as the card played immediately before it
to act in the same way as someone else

strong suit or strongest suit something that one excels in

verb

to make or be fit or appropriate forthat dress suits you

to meet the requirements or standards (of)

to be agreeable or acceptable to (someone)

suit oneself to pursue one's own intentions without reference to others

Derived forms of suit

suitlike, adjective

Word Origin for suit

C13: from Old French sieute set of things, from sivre to follow; compare sue

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with suit

suit

In addition to the idioms beginning with suit

suit down to the ground
suit oneself
suit up

also see:

birthday suit
empty suit
follow suit
long suit
strong point (suit)

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.