Nearby Words

frippery

[frip-uh-ree] Origin

frip·per·y

[frip-uh-ree]
noun, plural -per·ies.
1.
finery in dress, especially when showy, gaudy, or the like.
2.
empty display; ostentation.
3.
gewgaws; trifles.

Origin:
1560–70; < French friperie, Old French freperie, equivalent to frepe rag + -erie -ery
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Frippery is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
Collins
World English Dictionary
frippery (ˈfrɪpərɪ)
 
n , pl -peries
1.  ornate or showy clothing or adornment
2.  showiness; ostentation
3.  unimportant considerations; trifles; trivia
 
[C16: from Old French freperie, from frepe frill, rag, old garment, from Medieval Latin faluppa a straw, splinter, of obscure origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

frippery
1560s, "old clothes, cast-off garments," from M.Fr. friperie "old clothes, an old clothes shop," from O.Fr. freperie, from frepe "rag," from L.L. faluppa "chip, splinter, straw, fiber." The notion is of "things worn down, clothes rubbed to rags." The ironic meaning "finery" (but with overtones of tawdriness)
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dates from 1630s.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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