tie-dye
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
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tie-dyeing.
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Informal. a fabric or garment dyed by tie-dyeing.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of tie-dye
First recorded in 1935–40
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:
Osaka walked on to court wearing an ocean blue tie-dye tracksuit jacket with white wide-leg bottoms - both adorned with ruffles.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2026
They visit artisans at work making tie-dye cloth in nearby Arimatsu, a village that has been perfecting the art of dyeing fabrics in intricate patterns for 400 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2025
Even several members of the CBS television production crew wore colorful tie-dye T-shirts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2025
The Celtics nodded to Walton’s Deadheadedness by coming out in black shooting shirts that said “Walton” with a tie-dye background; team staff wore pins with a similar design.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 6, 2024
Now she had a plain tie-dye wrapper tied loosely around her waist and that white T-shirt she wore every other day.
From "Purple Hibiscus" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In another, Eric Whiteback, known as “the Supreme Guy”, tie-dyes a rare camo-print tee, creating a one-of-a-kind design for himself.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 2, 2020
Sebastian adds that he’s been living in California, in a tent, where he met a lady who tie-dyes – “a cloth house is all you need if you’ve got love.”
From The Guardian ● Aug. 15, 2019
The internet is full of photos and tributes to Hill fashion: a flowing brown overcoat, tie-dyes, soccer shirts, a brief interlude with pink hair.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2018
Sometimes Arun sees guys in suit and ties buying tie-dyes.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2018
The association with the method is unfortunate, because unlike the large psychedelic Deadhead patterns and colors, bandini tie-dyes are delicate and intricate.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
The listener leaves with a lively mental picture of the author in his tie-dyed hippie glory, a “disheveled U-boat captain from another galaxy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Diane, wearing a red and black cap and a tie-dyed sweater, speaks: “This site was reported May 1, 2024, for unidentified persons.”
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2024
“This season has been like a horseshoe of despair that’s now back to joy,” said the Los Feliz music supervisor, who wore a faded tie-dyed White Sox T-shirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2024
The other flag used those same colors as the stripes on a version of the U.S. flag, with white tie-dyed stars.
From Slate ● Jun. 19, 2024
I ripped off a chunk of my tie-dyed T-shirt, which was already falling apart from all the bum marks, and used it to pick the eyeball off the floor.
From "The Sea of Monsters" by Rick Riordan
They are turning it into breakfast cereal, tie-dyeing it and, in one case, wrapping it around baguettes.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2023
We spent a day in their lab to see how it all worked and even did some tie-dyeing on our own.
From The Verge ● Aug. 23, 2022
Later, she began tie-dyeing some of the venue’s black T’s in bleach, which she’d stocked up on because of the pandemic.
From Slate ● Sep. 14, 2020
With no budget, according to a Los Angeles Times story, he went to New York’s Greenwich Village to persuade artists to use Rit Dye for tie-dyeing.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2018
“There may be some tie-dyeing in our future. Okay, who’s for the moon landing?”
From "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead
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.
