street clothes
8
1.8
- noun
- After her shift ended, Maria changed out of her uniform and put on her street clothes.
- wear street clothes
- changed into street clothes
- arrived in street clothes
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Watch on YouTubeLike even even if if you were in an airport and the Dalai Lama walked in in street clothes, I think you would know.
- Like even even if if you were in an airport and the Dalai Lama walked in in street clothes, I think you would know.
- And that looks like unmarked cars and cops in regular street clothes in like a badge with like around their neck or whatever.
Examples
-
Lefty and Donnie arrive in their street clothes.
Fiction book (1997) -
They were dressed in street clothes.
-
No, I was in street clothes.
-
Why are you in street clothes?
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We're in our street clothes!
-
Darling, what did I tell you about sitting on the bed in your street clothes?
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Get into your street clothes quickly, child.
-
I always did a double take when I saw him in street clothes.
Fiction book (2000) -
And I was in a terrible hurry to get changed into street clothes.
Fiction book (1997) -
And when you were arrested, was the officer wearing a uniform or street clothes?
Synonyms
9
3.2
Ordinary clothes that let people in uniform blend in
8
2.0
Clothes that people who are not in the military or police wear
4
9.2
Clothes that are not a uniform, like jeans and a T-shirt
1
4.4
Ordinary clothes worn instead of a uniform to avoid being recognized as a police officer
1
3.6
Ordinary clothes worn by people who are not soldiers, police, or religious leaders
1
4.2
Everyday clothes that are not uniforms or work clothes
Antonyms
How Casual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'ordinary clothes worn in public' is directly and transparently derived from 'street' (public/urban) + 'clothes' (garments), indicating clothes for everyday public wear. This compositional noun–noun pattern is common across languages and follows a straightforward semantic combination, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Street clothes comes from the simple image of the words street and clothes together: clothes you wear in public rather than a uniform or costume. Imagine a player or actor changing out of their uniform into normal clothes to go home. So, street clothes means 'ordinary clothes worn in public', not work uniforms or sports clothes.