négligée
/ˈnɛɡlɪʒeɪ/
négligée adjective: carelessly or unceremoniously dressed.
Adjective
négligée
- Carelessly or unceremoniously dressed.
- In the style of a negligee; revealing, titillating.
Noun
négligée (plural négligées)
- A woman's lightweight gown of the eighteenth century.
- [S]he had on a lilac Negligee, Gause Cuffs trimmed richly, with Flowers and spangles, spangled shoes, Bows of Gause and Flowers, and a Cap!1777, Frances Burney, Journals & Letters, Penguin, published 2001, page 78
- A necklace of beads, pearls etc.
- A state of careless undress or very informal attire.
- “Good! My lady will be sitting in her boudoir, very much in negligee, about now.”1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 43
- A woman's loose-fitting nightgown, especially when short, lacy or revealing; a nightie.
- Enkhbayar has promised more jobs, free education and higher public service wages to the poverty-ravaged country. But who needs those when you've got dancing girls in black negligees?2000 July 3, “No: 1669 Mongolia”, in The Guardian
Forms of négligée
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form | négligé |
| alternative form | negligee |
| alternative form | negligée |
| Noun | |
| plural | négligées |
Origin of négligée
From French négligée f (past participle, adjective), from French négligé m (“underdressed; loose garment”, past participle, adjective, noun), past participle of négliger (“to neglect”), from Latin negligere.
Questions about négligée
- What does négligée mean?
- Négligée means carelessly or unceremoniously dressed.
- What part of speech is négligée?
- Négligée can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce négligée?
- Négligée is pronounced /ˈnɛɡlɪʒeɪ/ (UK).
Words near négligée in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: négligée (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-négligée.wav, Negligee.wav.
Cite this entry: “négligée.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/n%C3%A9glig%C3%A9e. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.