Definition of CORDUROY

Examples of corduroy in a Sentence

Noun

a jacket made of corduroy

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Stick to some of the classic high-school pieces (a corduroy A-line mini skirt, high-top sneakers) and pepper in some more obvious references to the movie: an envelope representing the letters, a scrunchie... — Ana Colón, Glamour, "7 Easy Halloween Costumes That Are Very 2018," 4 Oct. 2018 And how one living room sofa is covered in corduroy and the other in a ribbed stripe. — Lisa Cregan, House Beautiful, "Nathan Turner and Eric Stonestreet on Creating a Casual California Home," 21 Oct. 2014 More-textured fabrics such as cashmere or corduroy can create a more nuanced effect. — Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, "Why Men Fear Wearing Color. And the Secret to Pulling It Off.," 11 Oct. 2018 And though both are givens in fashion drops around their respective season, corduroy still hasn't totally shed its nostalgic veneer. — Ana Colón, Glamour, "The Best Corduroy Pieces to Shop for Fall 2018," 22 Sep. 2018 To put the Mademe spin on the classic, Magee chose four different colors and elevated fabrics, such as a thick corduroy in highlighter yellow or a grass green suede, stamped with the Mademe logo on the rubber platform. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "Lourdes Leon Turns the Latest Converse x Mademe Collaboration Into the New Cool Woman’s Uniform," 21 May 2018 The singer-songwriter, who was just spotted matching with Meghan Markle, made a patriotic statement in a bright and bold red corduroy jacket from Brandy Melville. — Lauren Rearick, Teen Vogue, "Selena Gomez Wears Red, White and Blue for a Reunion with “Wizards of Waverly Place” Star David Henrie," 5 July 2018 Those days were fleeting, however, as the social/political/economic climate would soon take a turn for the worse, replacing hopeful optimism with bitter cynicism and ushering in the practice of pairing brown corduroys with brown shoes. — Andrew Wendler, Car and Driver, "Genesis Essentia Concept: High-Tech Coupe Dreams," 29 Mar. 2018 Sitting a few feet from them is a thin, pleasant-looking man with a gentle vibe in a light brown corduroy suit. — Robert Morast, Houston Chronicle, "Wes Anderson talks 'Isle of Dogs'," 20 Mar. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

The trick is finding the right color: lean in to corduroy's '70s feeling with rich cognac, or play the part of the refined Italian guy with a dusty green. — Megan Gustashaw, GQ, "The Corduroy Suit Is for Vintage Hunters, Italian Dandies, and Everyone in Between," 9 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'corduroy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for corduroy

Noun

of obscure origin

Note: In the 18th century a name for a kind of coarse, thick-ribbed cotton fabric. It has been hypothesized that the word is a compound of cord as the name for a fabric and duroy, a coarse woolen fabric, but cord in this sense does not appear to be earlier than corduroy. Advertisements in the 1774 numbers of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal have cord, corduroy, duroy, as well as cordesoy and cordusoy (perhaps by association with padusoy, variant of paduasoy) in lists of fabrics for sale. The notion that corduroy is from French corde du roi, "king's cord," is fanciful.

Verb