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Glite Dictionary
🤵 Attaches with clip 🕶️ Accessory with clip
clip-on

clip-on

2 4.0
A small accessory that fastens to clothing or glasses without piercing
  • noun
  • /ˈklɪpˌɑn/
translation icon : clip-on
  • I found a pair of stylish clip-on sunglasses that easily attach to my regular glasses.
  • clip-on earrings
  • a clip-on tie

Examples

  • They're clip-ons.

    Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

  • And personally, I'd go with a clip-on anyway.

    Blog text (27)

  • He yanks off his clip-on tie.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • They have clip-on frog earrings!

    The Guilt Trip (2012)

  • Her earrings were large clip-ons, her lipstick was a bright red, and her eyebrows were brown crayon.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • She wore beautiful clip-on earrings that added sparkle to her outfit.

  • For my costume, I decided to buy some colorful clip-on accessories to match my theme.

Antonyms

fixture
47 3.6

A thing attached to a building that stays there, like a light or sink

How Removable

clip-on
2 4.0
earring
267 1.0
stickpin
  • Archaic
1 8.0

Surface Forms

clip-on singular
clip-ons plural

Morphology

clip-on = clip (transparent) = on + clip

A direct compound of 'clip' + 'on' whose meaning 'fastened by a clip' is literal and easily derived by learners. [Postprocessing: moved 'on' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Clip-on as a noun is a small object you 'clip on' to clothes, hair, or glasses, and the name comes from the parts clip ('a small thing that holds something') and on ('attached'). That's why a clip-on stays in place by being clipped and is easy to remove.