tassel
Americannoun
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tassels
plural
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a pendent ornament consisting commonly of a bunch of threads, small cords, or other strands hanging from a roundish knob or head, used on clothing, in jewelry, on curtains, etc.
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something resembling this, as the inflorescence of certain plants, especially that at the summit of a stalk of corn.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish or adorn with tassels.
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to form into a tassel or tassels.
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to remove the tassel from (growing corn) in order to improve the crop.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a tuft of loose threads secured by a knot or ornamental knob, used to decorate soft furnishings, clothes, etc
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anything resembling this tuft, esp the tuft of stamens at the tip of a maize inflorescence
verb
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(tr) to adorn with a tassel or tassels
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(intr) (of maize) to produce stamens in a tuft
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(tr) to remove the tassels from
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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tasselernoun
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detasselverb (used with object)
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tassellyadjective
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untasseledadjective
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untasselledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tassel
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) < Old French tas ( s ) el fastening for cloak < Vulgar Latin *tassellus, blend of Latin tessella (diminutive of tessera die for gaming) and taxillus (diminutive of tālus die for gaming). See tessellate, talus 1
Explanation
A tassel is an ornament or decoration that's made of threads. Tassels are used to decorate curtains, pillows, and clothing. A graduation cap (or mortarboard) often has a cord with a tassel attached to the top with a cord—in the U.S. it's traditional for a student to move the tassel from one side to the other at the end of the graduation ceremony. You'll also see tassels along the edges of fancy drapery and other soft furnishings. Tassels in various parts of the ancient Arab world were considered good luck, said to protect children from evil spirits.
Vocabulary lists containing tassel
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.
See Examples For:
The traditional velvet cap features embroidered initials, button and tassel and a hand-embroidered clementine in honour of his wife Clementine.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
A smaller tassel allows more light to reach the leaves.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 25, 2023
Corn relies on the wind to carry its pollen from tassel to silk.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 24, 2023
Meza then moved the tassel from one side of Hannah’s mortarboard to the other.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2022
That durned tassel thing tickle my nose, but I didn’t scratch it or nothing.
From "Girls Like Us" by Gail Giles
It’s multicolored and features an eye motif and beaded tassels hanging down toward the clavicle.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
In keeping with the tradition of Yuletide pullovers, Yiayia knits a bright-red Christmas sweater adorned with tassels and bells for her grandson’s dog.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
A woman dances in the spotlight, the glittering tassels on her dress shivering and swaying in tandem with her moves.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2024
And she does accessorize in other areas of her life, too, she said, pointing to various tassels she has for her Bogg Bag.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2024
A Communist had cut a wisp of black paper into a hero with sleeves like butterflies’ wings and with tassels and flags, which fluttered when you breathed on him.
From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Jay Kay arrived to a scream of recognition from older members of the audience, suited up in a tasseled white cowboy jacket and pink jeans.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
With their tasseled ears, pointed mutton chops and jacked-up hind quarters, they look like creatures from a Dr. Seuss book.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
The scene was a vibrant pastorale, rendered in thousands of shimmering sequins and beads that filled a nine-foot-wide canvas with a red tasseled border.
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
The men stepped outside and lumbered back into the cart, driving toward a distant gate tasseled with barbed wire that lay at the end of the Sorting Arena.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022
Using his razor-sharp fangs he began gnawing into the ancient tapestry, working from the tasseled hem upwards.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
There are reports were corn in southern Illinois is only 2 to 3 feet tall and tasseling, he said.
From Reuters ● Jun. 28, 2012
The harsh weather arrived just as the corn was entering its crucial tasseling stage and kernels were starting to form.
From Time Magazine Archive
Barring disaster, his 42 acres of tall tasseling corn will be worth at least $2,500 in October.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some corn is tasseling weeks ahead of schedule, and an early harvest is in prospect.
From Time Magazine Archive
The girls sat gazing out on the beautiful rolling fields of blue grass and tasseling corn, which Molly knowingly remarked promised an excellent crop.
From Molly Brown's Post-Graduate Days by Speed, Nell
A tasselled blue Texan-style ensemble -- complete with a cowboy hat for the robot -- and a retro silver puffer jacket were among the looks showcased at the event on Thursday.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
There were also velvet suits, unbuttoned silky shirts and tasselled dresses and skirts.
From Reuters ● Sep. 22, 2023
Wearing a long tasselled silver shirt and matching trousers, he shimmered as he charged around the stage, joined by a troupe of dancers on a rotating platform.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2023
I saw him for lunch the other day and he was in exceptionally good form, perfectly dressed, his scarf tasselled rakishly.
From The New Yorker ● Jul. 8, 2019
There was a visiting cardinal in the glorious tasselled hat which still adorns the notepaper of Wolsey’s College at Oxford.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
Vines bending with enormous clusters of grapes festoon themselves from tree to tree, tasselling the topmost branches with fruit and tendrils.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science October, 1877. Vol XX - No. 118 by Various
We know when the first violets are blowing in the woods, and we paint for ourselves the tasselling of the alder and the red of maple-buds.
From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Brown, Alice
Still at a gallop we left these behind and entered a broad lane between fields of tasselling corn, where we saw a gallant sight.
From The Cavalier by Cable, George Washington
Cynthia stood by the open window, where the sweet summer wind went by, laden with the fragrance of newly cut grasses and the silk of the corn that was just tasselling out.
From A Little Girl in Old Salem by Douglas, Amanda Minnie
The tall, tasselling corn now flows free in rippling, murmuring, ever widening silvery seas.
From Oldfield A Kentucky Tale of the Last Century by Banks, Nancy Huston
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.
