dinner dress
1
3.4
- noun
- /ˈdɪnər drɛs/
- Formal
- After finding the perfect dinner dress, she felt ready to attend the fancy gala.
Examples
-
She wore a stunning dinner dress that shimmered under the event's lights.
-
Now, we'd like to look at a dinner dress--
-
This is our new dinner dress.
-
"My white dinner dress and the opals.
Fiction book (2000) -
Her makeup was professional, and she was dressed elegantly in a dinner dress over which was some sort of little jacket.
Fiction book (1990) -
The guests all arrived in elegant dinner dresses for the upscale evening event.
Synonyms
206
2.5
A long formal robe like those worn at graduations or in court
7
3.4
A formal dress worn by women for evening events
3
6.1
A close-fitting dress for women with a straight, narrow shape for formal events
2
4.2
Clothes worn for formal evening events like dinners or parties
1
4.1
A long elegant dress that women wear to formal dances
1
4.2
A formal dress worn to evening events, especially dinners
A formal dress a woman wears to a ball or gala
A formal dress made of silk for special occasions
Antonyms
How Formal
10
3.5
16
2.7
- Formal
1
3.4
63
1.3
- Archaic
1
7.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a formal gown for evening dinners or events' is directly and compositionally derived from 'dinner' (evening meal/event) + 'dress' (a garment). This noun–noun compound follows a common purpose/location pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun dinner dress comes from a time when people wore different clothes for day and night. A dinner was the main 'evening' meal and a dress for that time was more fancy than day clothes, so the name came to mean a 'formal' gown for 'evening' events.