a boutique

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A small shop that sells fashionable clothes, jewelry, or other special items.

   Grammar: Countable: 'a boutique', 'two boutiques', 'the boutique on the corner'.

   Patterns

   • a boutique in a city
   • shop at a boutique

   She opened a small boutique selling handmade dresses.

   We wandered into a boutique and bought a silk scarf.

   The boutique on Main Street has unique gifts.

2. 2adjectivebefore a noun

   Small and specialized, often fashionable or upscale.

   Grammar: Used before a noun: 'a boutique hotel', 'a boutique winery'.

   Patterns

   • boutique hotel
   • boutique firm

   They stayed at a boutique hotel with only ten rooms.

   He works for a boutique law firm.

   The city has several boutique coffee shops.

Word forms

Common combinations

boutique hotel

We booked a boutique hotel in the old town.

fashion boutique

The fashion boutique sells designer labels.

boutique winery

This boutique winery produces only 500 cases a year.

open a boutique

She plans to open a boutique next spring.

boutique firm

A boutique firm often offers personalized service.

Synonyms and how they differ

shop

A general word for any place that sells things; a boutique is specifically small and stylish.

store

Common in American English for any shop; a boutique suggests a more exclusive or fashionable place.

boutique

Borrowed from French, so it keeps the French pronunciation.

Opposites

Word family

boutique adjective

Small and specialized, as in boutique hotel.

Commonly confused: a boutique or boutique?

Practice

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