guises

plural of guise
1
2
as in costumes
clothing chosen as appropriate for a specific situation she felt as though she should be wearing some sort of Germanic guise, complete with dirndl, for the fall festival featuring traditional German food and drink

Synonyms & Similar Words

3
as in masks
clothing put on to hide one's true identity or imitate someone or something else he sneaked into the castle to rescue Ivanhoe in the guise of a priest coming to give Ivanhoe his last rites

Synonyms & Similar Words

4

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of guises Throughout the weekend, Dudamel embraced the worlds of Hollywood, Latin music in many guises and old-fashioned rock. — Classical Music Critic, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026 With their traditional, legacy rivals — the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur — in various guises of transition, Arsenal are suddenly the team to beat and the Emirates is suddenly a library of sound; noise please. — George Caulkin, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026 Somewhere between a sandal and a ballet flat, caged silhouettes come in all manner of guises. — Sarah Leigh Bannerman, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 July 2026 Opponents of affirmative action, who suspect that the process is still continuing under other guises, could seek to replicate the winning strategy of the Harvard and UNC cases, if testing data show large, unexplainable gaps in academic preparation among different student groups. — Idrees Kahloon, The Atlantic, 9 June 2026 Dwayne Johnson is a confident guy and has donned any number of ridiculous guises during his Saturday Night Live hosting gigs over the years. — Jesse Hassenger, Entertainment Weekly, 28 May 2026 Over the years, audiences have seen the Negotiator under many guises, like a martial arts expert, a cowboy, and even a mariachi musician. — Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 12 May 2026 Farage has been through various guises. — Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 8 May 2026 By the time my story about him was published in the November 2023 issue of Vanity Fair, Aryeh Dodelson, and all of his guises, had disappeared from the face of the earth. — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 3 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for guises
Noun
  • Its glassy face leans into a zigzag pattern across its facades and from some angles looks like a retro video game.
    — Edward Keegan, Chicago Tribune, 1 Nov. 2026
  • The 16-acre complex of SCAD Savannah Film Studios added new professional soundstages and more than 50 backlot facades and practical interiors to Savannah’s production landscape.
    — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 26 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The sheriff's office shared photos of the couple, who were wearing matching dinosaur costumes, in custody.
    — Dan Raby, CBS News, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Juliza Jimenez, 21, of Yorkville and her sister Juliana, 14, both underwent the lengthy spray body-painting process and wore the colorful costumes Sunday.
    — Rick West, Chicago Tribune, 2 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Mayor Cherelle Parker signed six measures on May 7 and allowed a seventh concerning masks and identification to become law without her signature.
    — Hollie Silverman, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Audience members are invited to wear white clothing and white masks, and the procession closes with a fellowship meal at Ocean Bay Beach.
    — Jessica Gelt, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Shifts in scale allude to the fractal nature of the narrative, and characters and story lines make cameo appearances from booklet to booklet.
    — Chris Ware, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The two reportedly grew closer after attending Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding in July, and have since made a handful of public appearances in one another’s orbit.
    — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 7 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Acting on flimsy pretenses, Bianco arranged in February for the seizure of hundreds of thousands of Proposition 50 ballots, questioning the integrity of the election months after the fact.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
  • Shirley has since visited other states in the US under similar pretenses, showing up unannounced to grocery stores and hospice centers in search of evidence of fraud.
    — Mia Sato, The Verge, 20 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • The house’s holiday 2026 campaign, lensed by Gordon von Steiner, moves through a hotel washed in deep crimson, with gold dresses, black tuxedos and leopard print appearing almost everywhere else.
    — Maggie Clancy, Footwear News, 4 Nov. 2026
  • The sudden Renaissance influence with the leather vests over the dreamy white dresses.
    — Irene Kim, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2026
Noun
  • Authorities at the Villages denied him access, and the shoot required him to dodge security guards, charm subjects, and occasionally adopt disguises.
    — Alex Barasch, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
  • More than historical curiosities, such stories reveal how elaborate disguises can become necessary as a means of survival in a world that denies people the freedom to be themselves — both historically and today.
    — Katherine Brodsky, Variety, 14 Oct. 2026
Noun
  • Each image is automatically anonymized, with potentially identifying information, like faces and license plates, detected and blurred.
    — Roy Stephen Canivel, Footwear News, 10 Nov. 2026
  • In the study, researchers put visible smudges of lipstick, chocolate or marker on their faces.
    — Andee Tagle, NPR, 10 Nov. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Guises.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/guises. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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