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Glite Dictionary
church hat

church hat

7.4
A decorative, often large hat that some women, especially Black women, wear to church on Sundays
  • noun
  • /tʃɜːrtʃ hæt/
  • UK
translation icon : sombrero de iglesia
  • Every woman in the choir had a stunning church hat that added to the festive atmosphere.

Examples

  • Grandma always chooses her favorite church hat for every Sunday visit to the church.

  • Making me bang all on the windows with my good church hat!

    A Haunted House 2 (2014)

  • She wore a beautiful church hat adorned with flowers during the Sunday service.

Synonyms

picture hat
vschurch hat
7.2

A large, fancy women's hat with a wide brim and decorations

is tied to religious Sunday services and a cultural tradition among some women

Surface Forms

church hat singular
church hats plural

Morphology

church + hat

The core meaning — a hat worn to church — is directly and compositionally derived from 'church' + 'hat', following a common noun+noun modification pattern that B1 learners can infer. Cultural specifics about style or community practices (e.g., elaborate hats in some Black church traditions) are additional pragmatic information but do not make the basic referent unpredictable.

Etymology

Church hat comes from the long practice of women wearing a special hat to church on Sundays. Seeing rows of colorful, fancy hats became a sign of respect and pride, so the phrase now means 'a decorative hat worn for church services'.