fancy dress
5
3.5
- noun
- /ˈfænsi drɛs/
- UK
:
disfraz
- Many guests arrived in creative fancy dress, making the event even more enjoyable.
- fancy dress party
- fancy dress ball
- fancy dress shop
So we went to this Halloween party, and it was a fancy dress party, obviously, as Halloween is.
- So we went to this Halloween party, and it was a fancy dress party, obviously, as Halloween is.
- So yeah, are there people in fancy dress?
- Finished turning Point was I went out Halloween dressed as a skeleton in a fancy dress party.
Examples
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At the annual Halloween celebration, everyone was encouraged to come in fancy dress.
-
Just look at them, in their fancy dress, with their pips on their shoulders.
Fiction book (1996) -
Women came in their fancy dress.
Academic text (1995) -
Sounds more like a fancy dress party than a criminal gang.
-
I was at a ball in fancy dress and could laugh at just about anything.
Fiction book (1997) -
So we went to this Halloween party, and it was a fancy dress party, obviously, as Halloween is.
-
We met at a fancy-dress party.
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Why aren't you in fancy dress?
-
They used to throw these huge fancy dress balls, inviting all the old family gentry.
Fiction book (2002) -
Many of the party-goers are in fancy dress, from Beefeaters to Elvis Presley.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
514
1.3
A set of clothes that makes someone look like a character used in plays or parties
160
3.7
Clothes or things you wear to hide who you are
18
6.8
A set of clothes, often a costume, that looks unusual
10
5.6
A set of clothes worn to attract attention or to hide who you are
1
6.3
A costume with a mask worn to hide your identity
An outfit with a mask and fancy clothes worn to hide who you are at a party
A costume fans wear to look like a character from a story or game
Antonyms
How Elaborate
- UK
5
3.5
514
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The parts 'fancy' (ornate/showy) and 'dress' (clothing) transparently yield the idea of elaborate or special clothing, so a learner who knows both words will likely infer it refers to unusual or decorative attire. However, the specific conventionalized meaning 'a costume worn to disguise oneself' (especially in British usage for a 'fancy dress party') is a pragmatic/idiomatic narrowing and partly regional, so the exact sense may not be fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase fancy dress may come from older uses of fancy meaning 'imagination' and dress meaning 'clothes'. One popular story says people wore imaginative dress at parties to play a part or 'disguise' themselves, so fancy dress now means a 'costume' for a party.