Word of the Day : October 18, 2022

bespoke

play
adjective bih-SPOHK

What It Means

Bespoke is a synonym of custom-made and is used to describe anything made to an individual’s desired specifications.

// While factory-made furniture is almost always less expensive, nothing beats the charm of a bespoke, hand-carved chair or table.

See the entry >

bespoke in Context

“Salt boxes are, or have become, a Baltimore specialty. Nine hundred or so of these bespoke wooden bins—about as wide as a refrigerator, as tall as a toddler, as yellow as a rubber ducky—are stationed strategically throughout the city, mostly on streets too narrow or hills too steep for plows.” — Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 10 Apr. 2022


Did You Know?

In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning: “to order or arrange in advance.” It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. Bespoke has enjoyed a spike in usage in recent years, perhaps due to consumer trends that champion all things artisanal over those that are prefab.



Name That Synonym

Unscramble the letters to create a synonym of bespoke: DAEILTRO.

VIEW THE ANSWER

Podcast


More Words of the Day

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!