READY-MADE

Pronunciation (US):

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does ready-made mean? 

• READY-MADE (noun)
  The noun READY-MADE has 1 sense:

1. a manufactured artifact (as a garment or piece of furniture) that is made in advance and available for purchase

  Familiarity information: READY-MADE used as a noun is very rare.

• READY-MADE (adjective)
  The adjective READY-MADE has 3 senses:

1. made for purchase and immediate use

2. repeated regularly without thought or originality

3. commercially produced; not homemade

  Familiarity information: READY-MADE used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• READY-MADE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A manufactured artifact (as a garment or piece of furniture) that is made in advance and available for purchase

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

their apartment was furnished with ready-mades

Hypernyms ("ready-made" is a kind of...):

artefact; artifact (a man-made object taken as a whole)

Antonym:

custom-made (an item made to the customer's specifications)

• READY-MADE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Made for purchase and immediate use

Similar:

made (produced by a manufacturing process)

off-the-peg; off-the-rack; off-the-shelf; ready-to-wear ((especially of clothing) made in standard sizes and available from merchandise in stock)

prefab (manufactured in standard sizes to be shipped and assembled elsewhere)

ready-to-eat (food products that are prepared in advance and can be eaten as sold)

Antonym:

custom-made (made according to the specifications of an individual)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Repeated regularly without thought or originality

Synonyms:

cliched; ready-made

Context example:

ready-made phrases

Similar:

unoriginal (not original; not being or productive of something fresh and unusual)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Commercially produced; not homemade

Context example:

ready-made clothes

Similar:

factory-made (produced in quantity at a factory)

 Context examples 

It is the mark of a modest man to accept his friendly circle ready-made from the hands of opportunity; and that was the lawyer’s way.

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

He was a well-built man, and his muscles seemed on the point of bursting out of the painfully new and ready-made black clothes he wore.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

When I had money enough, I used to get half-a-pint of ready-made coffee and a slice of bread and butter.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

My aunt took so kindly to the notion, that some ready-made clothes, which were purchased for me that afternoon, were marked Trotwood Copperfield, in her own handwriting, and in indelible marking-ink, before I put them on; and it was settled that all the other clothes which were ordered to be made for me (a complete outfit was bespoke that afternoon) should be marked in the same way.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)