sartorial

adjective

sar·to·ri·al sär-ˈtȯr-ē-əl

sər-,

sə-

: of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes

broadly : of or relating to clothes

poor sartorial taste

sartorially

sär-ˈtȯr-ē-ə-lē

adverb

Did you know?

It's easy to uncover the root of sartorial. Just strip off the suffix -ial and you discover the Latin noun sartor, meaning "tailor" (literally, "one who patches or mends"). Sartorial splendor has been the stuff of voguish magazines for years, and even sartor itself has occasionally proven fashionable, as it did in 1843, when Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote of "coats whose memory turns the sartor pale," or in the 1870 title The Sartor, or British journal of cutting, clothing, and fashion. Sartorial has been in style with English speakers since at least 1823.

Example Sentences

They accused him of having poor sartorial taste. The wedding party arrived in sartorial splendor.

Recent Examples on the Web At first, the vision of this bold sartorial statement shocked me. —

Marcia Desanctis, Vogue, 4 Jan. 2023 The Imperial uniforms are a sartorial nod to the Nazi costume. —

Los Angeles Times, 30 Nov. 2022 Social and familial pressures reigned over women’s veiling, accompanied by changing cultural mores facilitated by virtually wholesale adoption of Western sartorial styles, cinema and other media. —

Amy Motlagh, The Conversation, 14 Nov. 2022 On November 7, just weeks after paparazzi shots of Rutherford and Eillish together launched much zealous speculation over their romantic relationship, the pair chose to make not just a public confirmation -- but a sartorial statement. —

Leah Dolan, CNN, 11 Nov. 2022 As expected, there were many sartorial nods to the legacy of Chadwick Boseman present. —

Essence Fashion, Essence, 27 Oct. 2022 My hilarious scriptwriter husband laughed off my dark dress shade, but not everyone cheered my sartorial statement. —

Susan Shapiro, Washington Post, 30 May 2022 These days, cowboy boots are more than just a sartorial statement. —

Dale Arden Chong, Men's Health, 18 May 2022 In turn, sartorial items that would once live only in the wardrobes of actual equestrians are becoming wardrobe mainstays for all. —

Eliza Huber, refinery29.com, 9 May 2021 See More

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