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flannelette

flannelette

7.0
A soft cotton cloth used for pajamas and sheets that keeps you warm
  • noun
  • /ˌflænəˈlɛt/
  • UK
translation icon : franela
  • The cozy flannelette fabric made the pajamas very comfortable to wear.

Examples

  • She bought a flannelette shirt to wear during the chilly evenings.

  • Blue singlets and flannelette shirts can't say a single sentence without swearing.

    Blog text (4)
  • He snuggled into his warm flannelette blanket on the cold winter night.

Synonyms

flannel
vsflannelette
36 3.6

A soft light cloth made from wool or cotton used for clothes and sheets

is cotton made to resemble that soft woolen or cotton textile
cotton flannel
vsflannelette
1 2.9

A warm cotton cloth with a soft side used for clothes and sheets

is cotton made to imitate the same napped fabric
Canton flannel
vsflannelette
  • Archaic
8.3

A heavy cotton cloth brushed on one side to make it soft for sheets and pajamas

is lighter and made to copy the heavier brushed cotton

How Soft

velvet
149 2.5
flannel
36 3.6
flannelette
  • UK
7.0
cotton
115 1.0

Surface Forms

flannelette singular
flannelettes plural

Morphology

flannelette = flannel (semi-transparent) = flannel + ette

Formed from 'flannel' with the diminutive/imitative suffix '-ette' so the relation to flannel is clear, though the fabric is typically a cotton imitation rather than true flannel.

Etymology

Flannelette comes from flannel plus the French ending -ette, which means 'little', so it was originally 'a small or lighter flannel'. Because flannel once meant a 'soft wool cloth', flannelette now refers to a soft cotton fabric made to look and feel like flannel.