apparel

1 of 2

noun

ap·​par·​el ə-ˈper-əl 

-ˈpa-rəl

1

: personal attire : clothing of a particular kind

dressed in fine apparel

—used chiefly in U.S. English to refer to clothing that is being sold in stores

a new line of women's apparel

athletic apparel

2

: the equipment (such as sails and rigging) of a ship

3

: something that clothes or adorns

the bright apparel of spring

apparel

2 of 2

verb

appareled or apparelled; appareling or apparelling

transitive verb

1

: to put clothes on : dress

was formally appareled [=was wearing formal clothes]

2

: adorn, embellish

accused of appareling the truth

Synonyms

Noun

• attire
• clobber [British slang]
• clothes
• clothing
• costumery
• dress
• duds
• garments
• gear
• habiliment(s)
• habit [archaic]
• rags
• raiment
• rig
• rigging
• threads
• toggery
• togs
• vestiary
• vestments
• vesture
• wear
• wearables
• weeds

Verb

• array
• attire
• bedeck
• caparison
• clothe
• costume
• deck (out)
• do up
• dress
• dress up
• enrobe
• garb
• garment
• get up
• gown
• habit
• invest
• rig (out)
• robe
• suit
• tog (up or out)
• toilet
• vesture

Examples of apparel in a Sentence

Noun

a sale on summer apparel for women

Verb

a designer who regularly apparels several of the presenters at the Oscar ceremonies

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

It is typically expressed as the annual change in prices for everyday goods and services such as food, furniture, apparel, transportation and toys. —Jonathan Mahler Edoardo Ballerini Emma Kehlbeck Joel Thibodeau, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024

Indirectly, employees will spread their earnings into the local economy — spending money on groceries, apparel, cars and other items. —Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024

About Huk Huk is a performance apparel for sport fishing. —Catherine Muccigrosso, Charlotte Observer, 1 Apr. 2024

From her ventures into fragrance, apparel, and even technology, each announcement has been met with palpable enthusiasm from fans and consumers alike. —Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024

Even so, the Canadian apparel company modestly beat Wall Street’s expectations. —Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024

Image: Converse / Wizards of the Coast The remaining apparel collection contains a hat, a sweatshirt, T-shirts, and shorts, which showcase designs like Dave Trampier’s demonic cover artwork for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook. —Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 21 Mar. 2024

Typically, scammers pose as working in import-export or the cosmetics or apparel business. —TIME, 21 Mar. 2024

Columbia is well-known in the outdoor world for their high-quality apparel and gear, and these pants are no exception. —Alice Bennett, Travel + Leisure, 24 Mar. 2024

Verb

Reliance Retail has about 12,000 stores across India and sells everything from smartphones to groceries to apparel through various eponymous brands, including Reliance Fresh, Reliance Digital and Reliance Trends. —Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 11 Aug. 2021

The rapper has partnered with an unusually diverse array of brands to churn out everything from food to apparel to toys and more. —Kim Bhasin, Bloomberg.com, 8 Oct. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English apparaile, apparell "furnishings, equipment, dress," borrowed from Anglo-French apparail, noun derivative of apparailler "to prepare, equip, dress" — more at apparel entry 2

Verb

Middle English apparailen, apareilen "to prepare, equip, dress," borrowed from Anglo-French apparailler, apareiller, going back to Vulgar Latin *appariculāre, probably verbal derivative of *appariculum, re-formation (with Latin -culum, suffix of instrument) of Latin apparātus "act of preparing, equipment, apparatus"

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

apparel

noun

ap·​par·​el

ə-ˈpar-əl

: things that are worn : clothing