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

These are some of the best jeans for travel, too, since the low-rise waist won’t dig into your midsection and the legs are roomy enough to sit in a car or on a plane. —Emma Greene, InStyle, 21 Jan. 2026

Style them for work with a blouse and dress pants, or wear them casually with a T-shirt and jeans. —Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 21 Jan. 2026

The easy-on, easy-off design is a win for airport security, while the sporty silhouette works with everything from jeans and sweatpants to even skirts. —Chaise Sanders, Travel + Leisure, 21 Jan. 2026

But some factors may require you to wash your jeans more often. —Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 20 Jan. 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
• chine
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• keen
• lien

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"