sartorial
adjective
Did you know?
Study the seams in the word sartorial and you’ll find the common adjective suffix -ial and sartor, a Medieval Latin noun meaning “tailor.” (Sartor comes ultimately from Latin sarcire, “to mend.”) Sartorial has bedecked the English language since the early decades of the 19th century as a word describing things relating to clothes and to tailors, while sartor, though never fully adopted into the language, has also seen occasional use as a synonym for tailor. A third word shares the same root: sartorius (plural sartorii) refers to the longest muscle in the human body. Crossing the front of the thigh obliquely, it assists in rotating the leg to the cross-legged position in which the knees are spread wide apart—and in which tailors have traditionally sat.
Examples of sartorial in a Sentence
Martino Carrera, Footwear News, 19 June 2026
But the trauma of their defeat in the final match of the 1950 World Cup to Uruguay was such that a change was necessary, like a sort of sartorial exorcism.
—Nick Miller, New York Times, 17 June 2026
Vogue’s Favorite Taffeta Pants Taffeta pants’ rise to sartorial stardom comes as little surprise.
—Laura Jackson, Vogue, 17 June 2026
This is a brand whose clothing is the sartorial equivalent of that person in the room who everyone listens to, despite them never raising their voice.
—Rachel Ingram, Robb Report, 14 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Sartorial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sartorial. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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sartorial
adjective
