vogue
Americannoun
-
something in fashion, as at a particular time.
Short hairdos were the vogue in the twenties.
- Synonyms:
- mode
-
popular currency, acceptance, or favor; popularity.
The book is having a great vogue.
noun
-
the popular style at a specified time (esp in the phrase in vogue )
-
a period of general or popular usage or favour
the vogue for such dances is now over
adjective
Related Words
See fashion.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of vogue
First recorded in 1565–75; Middle French: literally, “wave or course of success,” from Old Italian voga “a rowing,” derivative of vogare “to row, sail,” of unknown origin
Explanation
If something is the latest vogue, it is the latest fashion. When your new hairstyle catches on, it's in vogue — or if it becomes unpopular, it’s not. Anything trendy or popular — an activity, fashionable clothing, a home decorating style, board games — can be called “in vogue.” If you notice everyone scrambling to collect, say, robotic hummingbirds, you'll know that they are the vogue item. You might think that tall boots are no longer in vogue, and you notice a lot of short skirts showing up in Vogue magazine. Vogue — the magazine — often decides what fashion is in vogue.
Vocabulary lists containing vogue
English Words Derived from French, List 3
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50 Words from Jane Austen's "Pride & Prejudice"
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Between the World and Me
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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.
“The vogue when I was writing ‘Dept. of Speculation’ was for realist doorstopper books that were self-consciously about big ideas,” explains the novelist, who published her now-classic fragmentary novel in 2014.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
But it could also be that the art market has become more sensitive to interest rates because of a vogue for treating paintings as an asset class.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
Pep won't ever change his way of playing possession football, but what has come back in vogue at City in recent weeks is their players in wide positions, what I always called 'leg-beaters'.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
“It is vogue now to pick on private credit,” says Andrew Jacobs van Merlen, who runs target-date funds at T. Rowe Price Group.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
Aunt Jessie was a devotee of palm reading, one of the “minor superstitions” that was in vogue, along with seances, phrenology, and physiognomy.
From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman
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.
