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 Playback Split is a tapered full-length jean with side seam hem splits. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 15 May 2025

The social media star kicked off 2025 by starring in Frame’s skinny jeans campaign. —Julia Teti, Footwear News, 15 May 2025

That normcore Lorde look—a simple dress shirt, loose-legged jeans—was all over the high-fashion catwalks. —Christian Allaire, Vogue, 15 May 2025

Shop stylish sandals, comfy jeans, and walking shoes, starting at just $20 at Amazon. —Genevieve Cepeda, Travel + Leisure, 15 May 2025

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"