fashionable

Meanings

1. 1adjectivecomparable

   Popular at a particular time, especially in clothes or style.

   Grammar: Gradable: you can be very fashionable, more fashionable, or the most fashionable.

   Patterns

   • fashionable clothes
   • it is fashionable to do something
   • become fashionable

   She always wears fashionable clothes from small designers.

   It's fashionable to have a plant-filled apartment these days.

   That style of jacket was fashionable in the 1990s.

2. 2adjectivecomparable

   Used or visited by people who are considered stylish or important.

   Grammar: Often describes places or groups: a fashionable restaurant, a fashionable neighborhood.

   Patterns

   • fashionable area
   • fashionable restaurant

   They live in a fashionable part of the city.

   The new café became a fashionable meeting place for artists.

3. 3adjectivecomparable

   Currently accepted or approved of by many people (used about ideas or behavior).

   Grammar: Often followed by 'to + verb': It is fashionable to criticize the government.

   Patterns

   • fashionable to do something
   • fashionable idea

   It is fashionable to talk about sustainability, but not everyone acts on it.

   That theory is no longer fashionable among scientists.

Word forms

Common combinations

fashionable clothes

He spends a lot of money on fashionable clothes.

become fashionable

Electric cars have become fashionable in recent years.

fashionable restaurant

We couldn't get a table at that fashionable restaurant.

highly fashionable

That brand is highly fashionable among teenagers.

Synonyms and how they differ

stylish

Focuses on good design and elegance; fashionable is more about being popular at the moment.

trendy

Informal and often slightly disapproving, suggesting someone follows every new trend; fashionable is more neutral.

in

Informal and very common: 'That color is in this year.' Fashionable is more formal.

Opposites

Word family

fashion noun

The popular style of clothes, hair, etc., at a particular time.

fashionably adverb

In a fashionable way: 'She arrived fashionably late.'

fashionista noun

Informal: a person who is very interested in fashion.

Commonly confused: fashionable or fashion?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fashionable”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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