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Glite Dictionary
shirtwaister

shirtwaister

9.2
A dress or blouse with buttons down the front like a shirt
  • noun
  • /ˈʃɜːtˌweɪstə/
  • Archaic
translation icon : blusa
  • She wore a crisp shirtwaister with pearl buttons to the interview.

Examples

  • Do you think this blue shirtwaister would be suitable for the summer party?

  • Classic shirtwaister styles have remained popular in British fashion over the decades.

  • She wore a beautiful shirtwaister to the party.

  • The shirtwaister is a classic style that never goes out of fashion.

  • Do you think this blue shirtwaister would be suitable for the summer party?

  • She wore a crisp shirtwaister with pearl buttons to the interview.

  • Classic shirtwaister styles have remained popular in British fashion over the decades.

Synonyms

blouse
vsshirtwaister
168 1.0

A loose top worn by women, often with buttons and a collar

is more tailored and fitted rather than loose
shirtwaist
vsshirtwaister
  • Archaic
4 9.7

A woman's blouse that looks like a shirt with a fitted waist popular in the early 1900s

is the chiefly British term for the same garment
shirtdress
vsshirtwaister
1 4.6

A dress for women that looks like a shirt with a collar and front buttons

also applies to blouses as well as dresses
button-down dress
vsshirtwaister
3.7

A dress with a collar and buttons down the front

focuses on shirt style rather than just buttons

Surface Forms

shirtwaister singular
shirtwaisters plural

Morphology

shirtwaister = shirtwaist (semi-transparent) = shirt + waist + er

The word is built from the recognizable base 'shirtwaist' plus '-er', but the resulting garment term is somewhat lexicalized and not fully predictable from the suffix alone.

Etymology

Shirtwaister comes from shirt + waist, where waist once meant the 'top part of a dress'. So a shirtwaister is a shirt-like top or dress, which is why it usually has buttons down the front.