garb

1 of 2

noun

ˈgärb 

1

obsolete : fashion, manner

2

a

: a style of apparel

b

: outward form : appearance

garb

2 of 2

verb

garbed; garbing; garbs

transitive verb

: to cover with or as if with clothing

Synonyms of garb

Noun

• costume
• attire
• clothes
• dress

Verb

• clothe
• dress
• attire
• costume
• apparel
• gown
• garment

Examples of garb in a Sentence

Noun

decided to clothe himself in traditional Scottish garb for the celebration

a fable about personal redemption presented in the garb of a conventional horror story

Verb

firefighters garbed in protective gear

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In a screen grab from his brief appearance Wednesday, Abu Safiya, 53, was shown handcuffed and sitting in white prison garb. —Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026

The 30-year-old Delaware native wears 18th-century garb while playing a crucial role in helping visitors understand how the state shaped the nation’s founding. —Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 June 2026

Verb

Her father's New Year's greeting card for 2023 showed King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida garbed in somber black, which many Thais saw as confirmation of the gravity of her condition. —CBS News, 12 June 2026

Her father's New Year’s greeting card for 2023 showed King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida garbed in somber black, which many Thais saw as confirmation of the gravity of her condition. —ABC News, 11 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Middle French & Italian; Middle French garbe "graceful contour, grace," borrowed from Italian garbo "grace, charm, good manners, form, outline of a ship's hull made from wood pieces," of uncertain origin

Note: If the sense "outline of a ship's hull" is prior to the more abstract senses, the modern Italian word probably continues an earlier etymon represented by (alleged) medieval Genoese dialect garibu in the sense "model of a hull," itself ultimately a loan from Arabic qālib "mold, shoemaker's last" (see caliber); details of attestation are thus far incompletely documented, however. An earlier hypothesis connecting garbo (and the related verb garbare "to be becoming to, please") to Germanic *garwjan- "to prepare, make ready" (presumably via Gothic; see gear entry 1, yare) is questionable on semantic and phonetic grounds.

Verb

derivative of garb entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1673, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for garb

• arb
• barb
• barbe
• aldicarb
• rhubarb

Kids Definition

garb

noun

ˈgärb

1

: style of dress

2

: outward form : appearance

garb verb