What does "wardrobe" mean?
A room for keeping clothes and armor safe, particularly a dressing room or walk-in closet beside a bedroom.
Wardrobe
/ˈwɔːdɹəʊb/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A room for keeping clothes and armor safe, particularly a dressing room or walk-in closet beside a bedroom.
- Grammar: wardrobe is listed as noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: closet, clothing, accouterments, apparel.
- Useful contrasts: chest of drawers, nakedness.
- Usage evidence: She selected a blue dress from the wardrobe.
How to use "wardrobe"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "wardrobe" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "wardrobe" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "wardrobe" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "wardrobe" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "wardrobe" is acting as noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "closet" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "wardrobe", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A room for keeping clothes and armor safe, particularly a dressing room or walk-in closet beside a bedroom. obsolete
- 2 a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes wordnet
- 3 A governmental office or department in a monarchy which purchases, keeps, and cares for royal clothes. figuratively
- 4 collection of clothing belonging to one person wordnet
- 5 The building housing such a department. figuratively
Show 12 more definitions
- 6 collection of costumes belonging to a theatrical company wordnet
- 7 Any closet used for storing anything. obsolete
- 8 A room for keeping costumes and other property safe at a theater; a prop room.
- 9 The department of a theater, movie studio, etc which purchases, keeps, and cares for costumes; its staff; its room(s) or building(s). figuratively
- 10 A movable cupboard or cabinet designed for storing clothes, particularly as a large piece of bedroom furniture.
"A canister of flour from the kitchen had been thrown at the looking-glass and lay like trampled snow over the remains of a decent blue suit with the lining ripped out which lay on top of the ruin of a plastic wardrobe."
- 11 A tall built-in cupboard or closet for storing clothes, often including a rail for coat-hangers, and usually located in a bedroom.
- 12 Anything that similarly stores or houses something. figuratively, uncommon
"Now death... crams his store house to the top with bloud, Might I now and Andrea in one fight, Make vp thy wardroope Richer by a knight."
- 13 The contents of a wardrobe: an individual's entire collection of clothing.
- 14 Any collection of clothing. figuratively
- 15 Any collection of anything. figuratively, uncommon
- 16 A private chamber, particularly one used for sleeping or (euphemistic) urinating and defecating. obsolete
- 17 Badger feces, particularly used in tracking game. obsolete
Verb
- 1 To act as a wardrobe department, to provide clothing or sets of clothes. intransitive
"[…] impressed with the quality of the talent and production, good wardrobing and speedy pacing."
- 2 Ordering a clothing item online and returning it for a refund after having worn it.
"Wardrobing, the act of buying a nice piece of clothing, wearing it once, and returning it, is an $8.8 billion problem for the retail industry."
- 3 Ordering multiple sizes of the same clothing item online and returning all but the one that fits best.
"Wardrobing is where people will order the same thing in three different sizes to see which one fits and then they return the other two, not realizing that those other two most of the time don’t go back on that retailer’s shelves."
Antonyms
chest of drawersnakedness
Example
"She selected a blue dress from the wardrobe."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "wardrobe"?
Common synonyms include: closet, clothing, accouterments, apparel, armoire, attire.
How do you use "wardrobe" in a sentence?
She selected a blue dress from the wardrobe.
How do you pronounce "wardrobe"?
Pronounced /ˈwɔːdɹəʊb/.
Etymology
From Middle English warderobe, from Old Northern French warderoube, wardereube, northern variants of Old French garderobe, from garder (“to keep safe”) + robe. Subsequently influenced by various senses of garderobe as they developed in French. Doublet of garderobe.