tailor-make
Americanverb (used with object)
Usage
What does tailor-make mean? Tailor-make means to make to fit the needs or specifications of a particular situation, object, or person. It means to make something in the way that a tailor would make a piece of clothing for someone by fitting it to their exact measurements and needs. Tailor-make can be used in the context of clothing, but it’s more often used in a figurative sense, meaning the same thing as custom-make: to make something to unique specifications so that it fits perfectly and it’s one of a kind. Things made in such a way can be described with the adjective tailor-made, which can mean literally made by a tailor, or, more generally, made to unique specifications—or seeming to have been made that way. Example: We tailor-make a curriculum for each student to meet their individual needs.
Etymology
Origin of tailor-make
First recorded in 1895–1900
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.
"It's hard to tailor-make clothes for them, so to speak."
From Science Daily • Oct. 10, 2023
You can’t tailor-make regional climates because the whole climate system is coupled together.
From Slate • Jan. 19, 2016
Photograph: Soheil Riahi/Alamy Independent travel isn’t allowed in Iran, Brits must book a group trip, but you can tailor-make one with a minimum of two people with some operators, and on a budget.
From The Guardian • Aug. 31, 2015
"You have to tailor-make the show so they feel it belongs to them. And you don't just pick out one person; you pick like 10 people, then weave their stories together."
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 15, 2014
But someone with poor heart health might require a reduced-sodium meal, so the center works to tailor-make some of its meals.
From Washington Times • Nov. 9, 2014
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.
