schmancy dress
- noun
- /ˈʃmæn.si drɛs/
- Informal
:
vestido elegante
- She wore a schmancy dress to the gala and caught everyone's attention.
Examples
-
I love your schmancy dress!
-
I don't have a schmancy dress for the party, but I'll make do with what I have.
-
They showed up in a schmancy dress, making the event feel even more special.
-
She wore a beautiful schmancy dress to the party.
-
She wore a schmancy dress to the gala and caught everyone's attention.
-
They showed up in a schmancy dress, making the event feel even more special.
-
I don't have a schmancy dress for the party, but I'll make do with what I have.
Synonyms
10
7.1
Fancy clothes and jewelry worn for a special occasion
1
2.7
A formal, stylish dress worn for special events
A smooth, close-fitting outfit that looks elegant and modern
A formal long gown worn to evening events like dinners
A formal dress made of silk for special occasions
Antonyms
How Fancy
8
3.5
11
3.3
- Informal
- UK
5
3.5
9
2.5
- Archaic
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'schmancy' (stylish/overly showy) modifies 'dress', so a learner who knows both words can infer it means a fancy or stylish dress. The schm- playful/ironic flavor is colloquial but does not block the adjective+noun interpretation, making the phrase predictable from its parts.
Etymology
The phrase schmancy dress comes from a playful sound people add to words. People used 'fancy-schmancy' to make fun of something that was too 'fancy', and the short form schmancy came to mean very stylish in a joking way, so schmancy dress means a dress that is fancy but spoken about in a fun or slightly silly way.