cocktail dress

American

[kok-teyl dres] / ˈkɒkˌteɪl ˌdrɛs /

noun

a semiformal, typically short dress, such as one might wear to a cocktail party.

With a flouncy knee-length skirt and crisply tailored collar, this satin-organza cocktail dress serves up fun with a dash of formality.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Mom used to greet party guests with glasses of champagne, her satin cocktail dress swishing above her knees and her high heels clicking against the wood floor.

From Literature

"It will be suits and cocktail dresses, and you know me, mysterious mischief, so bring your presents, your presence and your humour!"

From BBC

The big sale includes cocktail dresses worn by the actress and the magazine owner's famed silk smoking jackets.

From BBC

At a New Year’s Eve event in a Sheraton Hotel ballroom in West Des Moines, jeans and cowboy boots outnumbered tuxedos and cocktail dresses, and Miller Lite seemed more popular than champagne.

From Seattle Times

Three society women in cocktail dresses stare up at the camera, each with her right fist raised in the Black Panther salute.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023