fancy dress

noun

: a costume (as for a masquerade) chosen to suit the wearer's fancy

Examples of fancy dress in a Sentence

Everyone wore fancy dress for the ball.
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
And, while some fancy dress outfits are a pain to clean, this costume is machine washable so there's no faff with hand washing. — Chris McMullen, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026 There is typically one formal evening, but fancy dress is not required. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 Sep. 2026 Rutter donned a wetsuit for his title-winning runs, but the vast majority arrive every year resplendent in an array of fancy dress. — Rob Tanner, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026 And yet a long fancy dress just isn’t what many Alaskans wear on a normal day of the week. — Kristine Hansen, Travel + Leisure, 17 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fancy dress

Word History

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fancy dress was in 1770

Rhymes for fancy dress

See All Rhymes for fancy dress

Browse Nearby Words

fancy dive
fancy dress
fancy dress ball
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Fancy dress.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fancy%20dress. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of deportment

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All