negligee

noun neg·li·gee \ ˌne-glə-ˈzhā , ˈne-glə-ˌzhā \

variants: or less commonly negligé

|Updated on: 27 May 2018

Definition of negligee

1 : a woman's long flowing usually sheer dressing gown

2 : carelessly informal or incomplete attire

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Recent Examples of negligee from the Web

Selena Gomez's sheer dress for the Met Gala, designed by Stuart Vevers for Coach, is reminiscent of a negligee, crafted out of vintage cream silk gauze.

— harper's bazaar staff, Harper's BAZAAR, "Selena Gomez's Met Gala Dress is Nightgown Inspired," 8 May 2018
For that one night, Goldie Hawn—in a negligee—was the coolest mom in Hollywood.

— hilary weaver, Vanities, "Goldie Hawn Once Crashed Her Teen Kids’ Party in a Negligee," 13 Oct. 2017
For that one night, Goldie Hawn—in a negligee—was the coolest mom in Hollywood.

— hilary weaver, vanityfair.com, "Goldie Hawn Once Crashed Her Teen Kids’ Party in a Negligee," 13 Oct. 2017
Her closed eyes and negligee-like garment lend her the air of a somnambulist.

— robert greskovic, WSJ, "‘Café Müller’ and ‘The Rite of Spring’ Reviews: A Posthumous Homecoming," 18 Sep. 2017
Well in Texas, that flimsy negligee of a justification didn't stay on long.

— victoria defrancesco soto, NBC News, "Opinion: Calling Immigration on Latinos Protesting SB4 is Racial Profiling," 30 May 2017
How about photographing her and Eva in their negligees, lounging on beds?

— martha weinman lear, The New Yorker, "The Celebrity Interviews of Yesteryear," 16 Jan. 2017
The show opens with a series of hazy black-and-white photographs from 1969 that capture the artist’s reclusive mother in a frothy negligee, moving about a dim, somewhat bedraggled bedroom, curling her hair, putting on makeup, posing before a mirror.

— roberta smith, New York Times, "Lush Morsels From an Artist’s Erotic Imagination NOV. 11, 2016," 10 Nov. 2016

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

Origin and Etymology of negligee

borrowed from French négligé "casualness, casual or informal dress," from past participle of négliger "to disregard, neglect, treat carelessly," going back to Middle French negliger, borrowed from Latin neglegere, neclegere, necligere "to disregard, do nothing about, fail to care for" — more at ¹neglect

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1756

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year