ATTIRE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does attire mean? 

• ATTIRE (noun)
  The noun ATTIRE has 1 sense:

1. clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion

  Familiarity information: ATTIRE used as a noun is very rare.

• ATTIRE (verb)
  The verb ATTIRE has 1 sense:

1. put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive

  Familiarity information: ATTIRE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATTIRE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

attire; dress; garb

Context example:

battle dress

Hypernyms ("attire" is a kind of...):

article of clothing; clothing; habiliment; vesture; wear; wearable (a covering designed to be worn on a person's body)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "attire"):

costume (the attire worn in a play or at a fancy dress ball)

activewear; athletic wear; sportswear (attire worn for sport or for casual wear)

getup; outfit; rig; turnout (a set of clothing (with accessories))

morning dress (formal attire for men during the daytime)

false hair; hairpiece; postiche (a covering or bunch of human or artificial hair used for disguise or adornment)

habit; riding habit (attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire))

habit (a distinctive attire worn by a member of a religious order)

evening clothes; evening dress; eveningwear; formalwear (attire to wear on formal occasions in the evening)

finery (elaborate or showy attire and accessories)

ecclesiastical attire; ecclesiastical robe (attire that is appropriate to wear in a church)

disguise (any attire that modifies the appearance in order to conceal the wearer's identity)

costume (the prevalent fashion of dress (including accessories and hair style as well as garments))

costume (unusual or period attire not characteristic of or appropriate to the time and place)

costume (the attire characteristic of a country or a time or a social class)

ao dai (the traditional dress of Vietnamese women consisting of a tunic with long sleeves and panels front and back; the tunic is worn over trousers)

Derivation:

attire (put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive)

• ATTIRE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they attire    ... he / she / it attires   
Past simple: attired   
Past participle: attired   
-ing form: attiring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

attire; deck out; deck up; dress up; fancy up; fig out; fig up; get up; gussy up; overdress; prink; rig out; tog out; tog up; trick out; trick up

Context example:

The young girls were all fancied up for the party

Hypernyms (to "attire" is one way to...):

dress; get dressed (put on clothes)

Verb group:

dress; dress up (dress in a certain manner)

costume; dress up (dress in a costume)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "attire"):

dress; plume; preen; primp (dress or groom with elaborate care)

prank (dress up showily)

tart up (dress up in a cheap and provocative way)

enrobe (adorn with a robe)

bedizen; dizen (dress up garishly and tastelessly)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

attire (clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion)

 Context examples 

“Here he is,” said I, “and not in his legal attire!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

At every station there were groups of people, sometimes crowds, and in all sorts of attire.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Nature had given them no inconsiderable share of beauty, and every Sunday dressed them in their cleanest skins and best attire.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

A mild-looking, cleanly-attired young woman opened the door.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a black canvas bag in his hand.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The youth was not clad in monastic garb, but in lay attire, though his jerkin, cloak and hose were all of a sombre hue, as befitted one who dwelt in sacred precincts.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Your telegram was dispatched about one. But no one can glance at your toilet and attire without seeing that your disturbance dates from the moment of your waking.”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I began to perceive more deeply than it has ever yet been stated, the trembling immateriality, the mistlike transience, of this seemingly so solid body in which we walk attired.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Leo also rules the luxury goods market, such as expensive perfumes, precious jewels, beautiful, quality designer attire, luxury shoes, handbags, scarves, sunglasses, and other accessories, as well as men’s custom-made suits.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

The old orchard wore its holiday attire.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)