drape
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Cover or dress loosely with cloth.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
draypIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈdɹeɪp
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Cover or dress loosely with cloth
transitive
To spread over, cover.
To design drapery, arrange its folds, etc., as for hangings, costumes, statues, etc.
To hang or rest limply.
To rail at; to banter.
To make cloth.
noun
textiles
The manner in which fabric hangs or falls
“She adjusted the drape of her skirt.”
textiles
The way in which fabric falls or hangs.
A dress made from an entire piece of cloth, without having pieces cut away as in a fitted garment.
us
A member of a youth subculture distinguished by its sharp dress, especially peg-leg pants (1950s: e.g. Baltimore, MD). Antonym: square.
A curtain; a drapery.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Cover or dress loosely with cloth
Used this way, drape is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use drape
- “The cat draped herself on the sofa.”verb
- “She adjusted the drape of her skirt.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
A dealer in fabrics and sewing materials (and sometimes in clothing and drygoods).
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: manner in which fabric hangs or falls
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.