costume
(kɒstjuːm , US -tuːm )
Word forms: costumes
1. variable noun B2
An actor's or performer's costume is the set of clothes they wear while they are performing.
Even from a distance the effect of his fox costume was stunning.
The performers, in costume and make-up, were walking up and down backstage.
In all, she has eight costume changes.
Synonyms: outfit, dress, clothing, get-up [informal]
2. uncountable noun B2
The clothes worn by people at a particular time in history, or in a particular country, are referred to as a particular type of costume.
...men and women in eighteenth-century costume.
We were greeted by dancers in traditional costume and a rousing version of Midnight in Moscow.
3. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A costume play or drama is one which is set in the past and in which the actors wear the type of clothes that were worn in that period.
...a lavish costume drama set in Ireland and the U.S. in the 1890s.
Image of costume
© Ed. Use only, Shutterstock
Collocations:
bright costumes costume design costume parade dance costume don a costume elaborate costume exotic costume extravagant costume fancy costume fancy dress costume film costume gorgeous costume intricate costume lavish costume medieval costume outrageous costume ridiculous costume silly costume traditional costume wear a costume
No wonder the locals were so keen on bright costumes.
Times,Sunday Times
The bright costumes and pink stockings that we are told he sported were probably not worn in the studio.
Times, Sunday Times
Cops found the street performers dead by the side of the road, still wearing their bright costumes and make-up.
The Sun
As for the set, sound and costume design - well, you can certainly see where the 12.5m went.
Times, Sunday Times
You will pass through all the familiar categories, and reach cinematography and costume design — but keep scrolling.
Times, Sunday Times
It's a handsomely photographed film; both the production and the costume design are spot-on, evoking an appropriately free-spirited squalor.
Times, Sunday Times
Costume design, the next logical step, wasn't quite what she wanted.
Times, Sunday Times
The show also won awards for production, direction, costume design, lighting and choreography.
Times, Sunday Times
It was reported that around 160,000 people watched the bathing costume parade on the afternoon of the 16th.
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When the festival day comes, people gathered together at bridge (busan bridge, buma bridge) and had costume parade to the place where the mask performance played.
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The first day features dancers in colorful costumes parading along the street.
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His bands are never merely costumed parades, but exercises in total theatre, using music, drama, dance, and visual spectacle to communicate a metaphor-rich narrative.
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Dancers wear their ordinary clothes rather than a special dance costume.
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When strung together they are used as anklets, part of the kailao dance costume.
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Performers wear traditional obon dance costumes, and chant and sing as they parade through the streets.
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Other collections on exhibit include dance costumes, masks, shadow puppets, sculpture and paintings.
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Some squads, especially those that perform intensive dance routines, wear colorful dance costumes.
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He decided to don a costume to apprehend criminals that escaped justice.
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In contrast, the happy cosplayers of modern fandom can alter the meaning of their outside while retaining a sense of the self donning the costume.
The Times Literary Supplement
After he had jumped into the pit, he donned his costume, camouflaged his face and waited.
Times, Sunday Times
In 1996, he donned his costume of face paint, bear head and arms, and a number 46 jersey.
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Originally, he first donned the costume and began fighting crime as an adult.
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He had to wear a mask and elaborate costume that took an hour and a half to put on.
Times, Sunday Times
The most elaborate costume was the formal apparel of the king, as depicted on the royal stelae, with numerous elements of symbolic meaning.
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The part would oblige him to be buried in prosthetics, make-up and an elaborate costume, the combination of which would render him utterly unrecognizable.
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Perhaps you've seen stage shows with spectacular lighting effects and elaborate costume changes.
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There were entertainments which gradually evolved into extravagant masques, with elaborate costumes, movement and dancing, along with some words.
The Times Literary Supplement
Football terraces are becoming catwalks of exotic costumes.
Times, Sunday Times
Her presentation, often in exotic costumes, seldom in tune or in rhythm, was idiosyncratic.
Times, Sunday Times
The first day was spent on her exotic costumes, while for the second, she dressed in plain black.
Times, Sunday Times
The sisters perform in a variety of exotic costumes featuring ostrich feathers, tassels, sequins, and fancy headdresses, many of which they design themselves.
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People from different cultures are dressed in traditional, exotic costumes.
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The emperor with so many extravagant costumes has no clothes and, for the first time, there must be fear in the eyes behind those tinted sunglasses.
Times, Sunday Times
What with the extravagant costumes and standing stone, there's precious little space for anything else on stage.
Times, Sunday Times
The characters appear on the stage wearing exotic and extravagant costumes.
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The stories and implications as well as the extravagant costumes and elaborate staging appealed to the people.
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A number of archaeological finds depict the archigallus wearing luxurious and extravagant costumes.
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The eloquent little faces that peep dark-eyed from their fancy costumes survey the future perils of their incomprehensible fates.
Times, Sunday Times
It meant a few hours of escape, sitting in the dark, watching newsreels or the latest song-anddance routine, all fancy costumes and a romantic storyline.
Times, Sunday Times
Fans in fancy costumes were dancing in the aisles as music blared from the stage.
The Sun
These people have choreographed dances in fancy costumes that usually tell a short story.
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Celebrations usually include dressing up in fancy costumes, dancing, parades, heavy drinking and general public displays with floats.
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Finally, they have four hours to make a three-dimensional fancy dress costume.
Times, Sunday Times
Fancy dress costume of choice?
The Sun
I'm sure he'll like this fancy dress costume even more.
The Sun
It looks like a fancy dress costume.
The Sun
What's your failsafe fancy dress costume?
Times, Sunday Times
They include film costumes, designer clothes and jewellery, personalised gifts, documents, correspondence and other personal items.
Times, Sunday Times
Gramophone records, posters, and theatre and film costumes are also preserved.
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The exhibits include posters, photos, film costumes, architectural sketches, and props.
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We're swooning over the gorgeous costumes and perfect '50s period details.
The Sun
But gorgeous costumes can't cover up a couple of abysmal performances elsewhere.
Times, Sunday Times
The beautifully painted, sylvan woods that cover the entire stage, as well as the gorgeous costumes, mirror the most gracious aspects of 18th-century esthetics.
Globe and Mail
The sonorous gongs and songs, the gorgeous costumes and headpieces, and even the great long water-sleeves rose before her eyes.
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It was at times underpowered in the first half, but the intricate costumes and the fantastical puppetry are spectacular throughout.
Times, Sunday Times
These bands wore intricate costumes, which fans began adopting as their own style.
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After emancipation, this tradition continued, and junkanoo has evolved from its simple origins to a formal, more organized parade with sophisticated, intricate costumes, themed music, and incentive prizes.
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It's part period drama, part eerie thriller, with lavish costume design.
Times, Sunday Times
Viewers can expect lavish costumes, soap opera-style storylines, and characters drawn from the grandest social circles.
Times,Sunday Times
Even on a small ice rink, it's absolutely spectacular, with world-class skaters, a stream of high-energy routines and lavish costumes.
Times, Sunday Times
It had lavish costumes but apparently a weak story.
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The noblewomen in the coronation procession were dressed in lavish costumes with thread-of-gold embroidery and rode in litters escorted by knights.
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As an antiquary, he had a particular interest in medieval costume and furniture and architecture.
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Some people rent medieval costumes on arriving at the village.
Times, Sunday Times
They look as if they've dressed up in medieval costumes for a theme party that mummy and daddy are giving in the garden.
Times, Sunday Times
Inside the fort visitors are greeted by actors in medieval costumes who assume the roles of period artisans and merchants who might have lived there nine centuries earlier.
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Both are dressed up in medieval costumes.
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She loves 'weird characters and outrageous costume' and 'loud colours and lots of make-up'.
Times, Sunday Times
A heart-warming and uplifting adventure, the show features a dazzling array of outrageous costumes and a score of dancefloor classics.
Times, Sunday Times
Outrageous costumes and a score of 25 dance-floor classics guarantee a night you will never forget.
Times, Sunday Times
The music mogul, 51, revealed that he would have said 'no' instantly — especially if she wore one of her outrageous costumes.
The Sun
A mix of comedy, songs, film projections and outrageous costumes.
Times, Sunday Times
He's bound to have a cameo in the clip wearing a ridiculous costume.
The Sun
Its only the ridiculous costume of importance they wear so self-consciously thatll keep them from ever joining the party.
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Bosses will also force them to dress up in ridiculous costumes.
The Sun
The band members wore ridiculous costumes.
Times, Sunday Times
I remember ridiculous costumes mostly too.
The Sun
For this role, though, he was required to convince in silly costume.
Times,Sunday Times
On a day of community togetherness — a fun-run in tracksuits and silly costumes — a huge explosion shakes the building site, devastating lives and shattering trust.
Times,Sunday Times
For a start, there are the silly costumes, the drama, the entrances and exits, all in one career.
Times, Sunday Times
We see into the faces of the fans, into their souls; we can study their war paint, their ethnicity or silly costumes.
Times, Sunday Times
Silly costumes, silly haircuts and silly songs had quickly replaced the short-haired, tight-trousered, three-chord aesthetic of punk.
Times, Sunday Times
It jars with the rather traditional costume drama tropes that pepper the film.
Times, Sunday Times
Court musicians appear in traditional costume, maintain a rigid proper formal posture, and play stringed five-stringed instruments.
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As soon as the war ended, production reverted to traditional costume jewellery and souvenir manufacture.
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So they had local people in traditional costume invite visitors stop and handed them a small dish of local fruit including blueberries.
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In that episode, he appears in a streamlined, trench-coated version of his traditional costume.
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It's now traditional for visiting leaders to wear the costume of their host country.
Times, Sunday Times
A control group walked across campus but did not wear a costume.
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The show apologized for any misunderstanding and explained that the housemates should wear a costume as part of the live show.
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She was sponsored approximately 16,000 and so vowed to wear the costume for 16 consecutive days.
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Low-choice participants signed an experimenter choice consent form, indicating the experimenter assigned the participant to wear the costume.
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Translations:
Chinese: 服装, 古装的
Japanese: 身なり, 時代衣装を身につけた
- defeatist attitude
- defeat the purpose
- defecate
- defecation
- defect
- defection
- defective
- defective equipment
- defective part
- defective product
- defector
- defence
- defence agency
- defence analyst
- defence and security
- defence argument
- defence attorney
- defence barrister
- defence budget
- defence capability
- defence committee
- defence contract
- defence contractor
- defence cuts
- defence department