costume

¹cos·tume

noun
\ˈkäs-ˌtüm, -ˌtyüm also -təm or -ˌchüm\

Definition of COSTUME

1

: the prevailing fashion in coiffure, jewelry, and apparel of a period, country, or class

2

: an outfit worn to create the appearance characteristic of a particular period, person, place, or thing <Halloween costumes>

3

: a person's ensemble of outer garments; especially : a woman's ensemble of dress with coat or jacket

— cos·tum·ey adjective

Examples of COSTUME

1. children in their Halloween costumes
2. a formal 18th-century Japanese costume

Origin of COSTUME

French, from Italian, custom, dress, from Latin consuetudin-, consuetudo custom — more at custom

First Known Use: 1799

Related to COSTUME

Synonyms: outfit, drag, dress, garb, getup, guise, togs

Related Words: apparel, attire, clothes, duds, habiliment(s), raiment; fashion, mode, style; array, caparison, vestments

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Clothing Terms

babushka, brogue, bumbershoot, cravat, dishabille, furbelow, layette, raiment, spectator

Rhymes with COSTUME

abloom, assume, backroom, ballroom, barroom, bathroom, bedroom, boardroom, bridegroom, broadloom, chat room, checkroom, classroom, clean room, cloakroom, coatroom, consume, courtroom, darkroom, dayroom, entomb, enwomb, exhume, foredoom, front room, great room, greenroom, guardroom, gun room, headroom, heirloom, homeroom, houseroom, illume, inhume, jibboom, Khartoum, legroom, legume, lunchroom, men's room, mudroom, mushroom, newsroom, perfume, playroom, poolroom, pressroom, presume, push broom, relume, restroom, resume, salesroom, schoolroom, Scotch broom, sea room, showroom, sickroom, simoom, squad room, stateroom, stockroom, storeroom, strong room, subsume, sunroom, taproom, Targum, tearoom, throne room, toolroom, wardroom, washroom, weight room, whisk broom, white room, workroom