costume
UK/ˈkɒs.tjuːm//ˈkɑsˌt(j)um/
costume noun: a style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people.
Noun
costume (countable and uncountable, plural costumes)
- A style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people.
- the sight of thousands of people gathered to watch men walk the streets openly in female costume1971, Tonie Metie, “Unmasquerade”, in Body Politic, number 1, page 1
- The apology came after a netizen claimed Soberano was supposedly doing a black face, but the latter said, in defense, it was just a “costume.”2019, Krissy Aguilar, “Liza Soberano Apologizes for Comments on ‘Black Face’”, in Philippine Daily Inquirer
- An outfit or a disguise worn as fancy dress etc.
- We wore gorilla costumes to the party.
- A set of clothes appropriate for a particular occasion or season.
- The bride wore a grey going-away costume.
- A swimming costume.
- They call their bathing suits down there "costumes."1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer
Verb
costume (third-person singular simple present costumes, present participle costuming, simple past and past participle costumed)
- To dress or adorn with a costume or appropriate garb.
- Seated on the carpet, by the side of this basin, was seen Mr. Rochester, costumed in shawls, with a turban on his head. His dark eyes and swarthy skin and Paynim features suited the costume exactly. He looked the very model of an Eastern emir, an agent or a victim of the bowstring.1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter XVIII, in Jane Eyre. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC
- "The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down...1942 March, “Notes and News: Monument to a Stillborn Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 88
costume meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
costume in Hindi
- dress of a particular country, period or people
- पोशाक pośāk
costume in Tamil
- அணிகலன்கள்
costume in Urdu
- لباس
costume in Bengali
- পরিচ্ছদ, পরিচ্ছদপ্রণালী
More languagesFewer languages
- costume in Telugu
- వేషము vēṣamu
- costume in Malayalam
- ആട āṭa
- costume in Kannada
- ಉಡುಪು
- costume in Arabic
- بَذْلَة baḏla, بَدْلَة badla, رِدَاء ridāʔ
- costume in Malay
- kostum
- costume in Indonesian
- kostum
- costume in Persian
- کاستیوم kâstyum
- costume in Vietnamese
- phục sức, trang phục, y phục, quần áo
Examples of costume in a sentence
- Having a costumed superhero abduct the vicar was an utter non sequitur in the novel.
- I've heard the props and costumes in this play are quite freaky.
- The show had a lot of pizzazz, with glittering costumes and upbeat music.
Synonyms of costume
Forms of costume
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | costumes |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | costumes |
| present participle | costuming |
| past participle | costumed |
| past | costumed |
Origin of costume
Borrowed from French costume, from Italian costume, from Latin consuētūdō (“custom, habit”). Doublet of consuetude, custom, and kastom. Verb circa 1802, perhaps modelled on French costumer.
Words formed from costume
Phrases with costume
Questions about costume
- What does costume mean?
- Costume means a style of dress, including garments, accessories and hairstyle, especially as characteristic of a particular country, period or people.
- What is costume in Hindi?
- Costume in Hindi is पोशाक (pośāk). See Costume meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is costume?
- Costume can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce costume?
- Costume is pronounced /ˈkɒs.tjuːm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of costume?
- The plural of costume is costumes.
Words near costume in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: costume (page history and authors); costume (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); costume (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); costume (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); వేషము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ആട (Malayalam) (page history and authors); costume (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-costume.ogg.
Cite this entry: “costume.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/costume. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.