I. ˈfashən, ˈfaash-, ˈfaish- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English facioun, fasoun shape, manner, from Old French façon, from Latin faction-, factio action of making, company, faction, from factus (past participle of facere to make) + -ion-, -io -ion — more at do
1.
a. : the form of something or the way it is constructed : appearance or mode of structure : style , shape
do not like the fashion of your garments — Shakespeare
also : distinctive or peculiar form, shape, or cut (as of attire)
the cut of the coat was a fashion of his own
b. archaic : kind , sort
2.
a. : manner , way
expressed himself in a striking fashion
turn out munitions in wholesale fashion following the outbreak of war — R.L.Buell
the phonetics of Chinese are introduced in summary fashion in the first weeks — Georgetown University Bulletin
b. : mode of action or operation :
threshing grain after the old fashion
also archaic : demeanor , bearing , behavior
c. : a distinctive or peculiar and often habitual manner, way, gesture, or action
defending demagogy after his fashion — E.R.Bentley
Carlyle's bad fashion of ignoring the best forces of his own age — Bliss Perry
d. archaic : show , pretense
3. obsolete : the act or process of making something (as an ornamentation on silver) : craftmanship
4.
a. : a prevailing usually short-lived custom, usage, or style : fad
there are fashions in kinds of novels and fashions in ways of writing them — Bernard DeVoto
not even changing fashions in warfare have diminished the island's strategic importance — Franc Shor
Classicism, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Realism, were not mere literary fashions — A.L.Guérard
in six weeks she was the fashion of the town — Willa Cather
there was a fashion for it some forty years ago as a depressant in cases of mania — Margery Allingham
b. : the prevailing or accepted style or group of styles in dress or personal decoration established or adopted during a particular time or season : vogue
the fashion in hairdressing of the preceding century
jewelry and clothing fashions vary with the season
a high forehead from which swept back thick bronze hair scrupulously trimmed according to the day's fashion — W.J.Locke
followed the line and general fashion of female court clothes of the day — Anatole Chujoy
also : a garment in such a style
we tried on the latest fashions today
c. often capitalized : such prevailing customs or styles considered as an abstract force
a woman who lets Fashion dictate most of her actions
as for the peculiar stamp of the scientific thought of an age, we must make due allowance for fashion and the example of leaders — Times Literary Supplement
d. : social standing or prominence especially as signalized by dress or conduct that meticulously accords with the most approved prevalent style or mode
the captain, who was speaking a few parting words to some passengers of fashion — Winston Churchill
Synonyms:
fashion , style , mode , vogue , fad , rage , craze , dernier cri , cry can mean, in common, a way of dressing, behaving, dancing, decorating, or an interest (as in a recreation) that is considered especially up-to-date or noticeably following the contemporary trend in such activities. fashion , in this context, is the prevailing conventional usage or custom
dressed in the height of fashion
the gloom of modern writing is no more than a fashion, which will pass as all fashions pass — Douglas Stewart
one of a group of elegant, narrative biographies which may be setting a modern fashion — Saturday Review
style , often interchangeable with fashion , can suggest the elegant or distinguished way of dressing, behaving, and so on, characteristic of those of taste in a given period
dressed in the current style
a house in the style of the late 19th century architecture
the … house … has space, simplicity, style — Lillian Hellman
a woman of both beauty and style
mode stresses, more than the others, the peak of contemporary fashion especially in dress and behavior, often suggesting a certain transiency
its three bedrooms … all done in the modern mode — Monsanto Magazine
the romantic landscape of England became a mode accepted without question in Sydney — Bernard Smith
the rule of taste results in the tyranny of the mode — W.C.Brownell
vogue , when it is not interchangeable with fashion , often puts stress upon obvious popularity and wide acceptance, especially of dress or decoration
when fanciful scrollwork trim, cupolas, and brackets were in vogue — American Guide Series: Arizona
the fashionable vogue for ultramodern art — Encyc. Americana
a vogue at the moment of the red ties and red skirts — Frank Gorrell
fad designates a fashion that is usually short lived, and connotes capriciousness in the interest and quick decline of interest shown in it
unconcerned with fads, with whims of the moment — Clifton Fadiman
a fad is a small fashion in some secondary matter or detail — N.A.Brisco
whether the long skirts, high necks, pinched waists, padded hips, and bulky hats are here to stay for a while, or are merely a passing fad — Modern Beauty Shop
rage and craze designate a fad adopted with short lived but intense enthusiasm, often implying a certain senselessness
one of the very latest rages — sterling silver charm bracelets that spell out your name — New York Times Magazine
for part of the Grimaldi period, performing dogs were the rage — Robert Turley
the current craze for cyclecars — Current Biography
to satisfy the craze for wild-bird feathers on womens's hats — J.H.Baker
dernier cri , sometimes with the French article le, and the equivalent English cry (as in the phrase all the cry ) designate the very latest style, fashion, or fad, especially in art or clothes
women garbed in the dernier cri from Paris — S.J.Perelman
purporting to be the quintessence of scholarly research, the dernier cri in intelligent social theory and practice — Current History
the last cry today may be a far cry from that of yesterday
Synonym: see in addition method .
•
- after a fashion
II. verb
( fashioned ; fashioned ; fashioning -sh(ə)niŋ ; fashions )
Etymology: Middle English faciounen, from facioun, n.
transitive verb
1.
a. : to give shape or form to : form , mold
fashion the clay in the figure of a donkey
sit once more at the feet of the ancient wisdom and fashion their lives upon the principle that the soul is more than the meat and the body than raiment — V.L.Parrington
human nature is fashioned to a large extent by surrounding cultural configurations — Bernard Rosenberg
as intelligent creatures, fashioned by the hand and in the image of an all-wise God — W.F.Hambly
b. : alter , modify , transform
new frontiers were established which fashioned the political and social institutions of the old — W.P.Webb
c. : to mold into a particular character by influencing, instructing, training, or conditioning
the teacher fashioned the student into a fine pianist
the painful metaphysical struggle or religious revolt that fashioned Joyce's soul in youth and first manhood — Sean O'Faolain
choose a dog specifically designed by nature, and fashioned by man, to hunt — Holiday
d. : make , construct
fashioned a canoe from a huge pine — R.S.Monahan
fashion out of paper a representation of the person whom the magician wishes to injure — J.G.Frazer
well-kept houses of brick fashioned from the red clay — American Guide Series: Pennsylvania
each writer had to find or fashion for himself an artistic credo — Max Lerner & Edwin Mims
his ability to fashion personal triumphs from the most unlikely materials — R.H.Rovere
2. : fit , adapt , accommodate
she was always fashioned to the subtle, disguising whalebone of common sense — V.S.Pritchett
3.
a. obsolete : to bring about by devising : contrive
b. : represent , picture
the subordinate characters are expertly fashioned too — T.C.Chubb
c. obsolete : to make pretense of : counterfeit
4. : to make up : constitute
from these yards was recruited Noah Brown's heroic band who fashioned Commodore Perry's fleet for the Battle of Lake Erie — American Guide Series: New York City
5. : to increase or decrease stitches in
intransitive verb
dialect England : to have the nerve : dare
Synonyms: see make
III. noun
Etymology: by folk etymology from obsolete farcin farcy, from Middle English farsin — more at farcy
obsolete : farcy