jean

noun

ˈjēn 

plural jeans

1

: a durable twilled cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

usually jeans

ˈjēnz 

: pants usually made of denim or jean

… strolling with royal puppy Lupo through Kensington Gardens near the couple's two-bedroom cottage in a pair of jeans and rain boots.

—Alicia Dennis et al.

Millions of people today buy designer jeans for double the price of equally durable generic jeans …

—Jared Diamond

see also blue jeans, mom jeans

Examples of jean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The brand makes jeans, like this barrel-leg style, that will last for years to come. — Katie Decker-Jacoby, StyleCaster, 22 July 2026

Bootcut jeans are up 158 percent among key influencers, while street-style favorite puddle jeans are up 148 percent in searches to last year, Trendalytics said. — Angela Velasquez, Footwear News, 22 July 2026

Derek Hough rocks a white tank top and jeans for a walk in New York City on July 21. — Brendan Le, PEOPLE, 22 July 2026

Yarmosky, meanwhile, donned a white T-shirt, jeans, and black shoes. — Juliana Ukiomogbe, InStyle, 22 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

short for jean fustian, from Middle English Gene Genoa, Italy + fustian

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing jean

• jean shorts

Rhymes for jean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• keen
• lien
• mean

Kids Definition

jean

noun

ˈjēn 

1

: a heavy cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

plural : pants made of jean, denim, or corduroy

Etymology

a shortened form of earlier jean fustian, literally "a fustian (heavy cotton cloth) from Genoa," from Middle English Gene "Genoa, Italy"