fancy dress

See synonyms for fancy dress on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a costume for a ball, masquerade, etc., chosen to please the fancy, usually a costume characteristic of a particular period or place, class of persons, or historical or fictitious character.

Origin of fancy dress

1
First recorded in 1760–70

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use fancy dress in a sentence

  • On the day of Mid-Lent—or rather, at eight on the morning after—Dinah came home from the ball in her fancy dress to go to bed.

    Parisians in the Country | Honore de Balzac
  • Satin stripes are frequent in madras, shirtings, and fancy dress goods in connection with plain and figured weaves.

    Textiles | William H. Dooley
  • I cant think why it is, but I go through life feeling as if I were perpetually wearin fancy-dress.

    The Bishop's Apron | W. Somerset Maugham

British Dictionary definitions for fancy dress

fancy dress

noun
    • costume worn at masquerades, etc, usually representing a particular role, historical figure, etc

    • (as modifier): a fancy-dress ball

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012