Meaning & use
half sleeve
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A sleeve that stops around the middle of the upper arm or the elbow, as on a shirt or jacket.
Grammar: Often used as a modifier: a half-sleeve shirt.
Patterns
- a half sleeve shirt
- a top with half sleeves
He chose a shirt with a half sleeve because the office was warm.
The dress has a half sleeve that ends just above the elbow.
Half sleeves are comfortable in spring when mornings are cool but afternoons are warm.
nouncountableinformal
A tattoo design covering the arm from the shoulder down to about the elbow, or sometimes from the elbow down to the wrist.
Grammar: Often paired with get: she got a half sleeve.
Patterns
- get a half sleeve
- a half sleeve of something
She has a half sleeve of flowers on her left arm.
He saved up for months to finish his half sleeve.
The artist suggested a half sleeve rather than a full sleeve for his first big tattoo.
Word forms
| plural | half sleeves |
|---|
Common combinations
- a half sleeve tattoo
- His half sleeve tattoo took four sessions.
- half sleeve shirt
- I bought a half sleeve shirt for the summer.
- get a half sleeve
- She plans to get a half sleeve next year.
- roll up a half sleeve
- Even a half sleeve can be rolled up for hot days.
- half sleeve design
- The half sleeve design wrapped around his upper arm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- short sleeve
- A short sleeve is usually shorter, ending nearer the shoulder, while a half sleeve reaches about the middle of the arm.
- three-quarter sleeve
- A three-quarter sleeve is longer and ends between the elbow and the wrist.
- cap sleeve
- A cap sleeve barely covers the shoulder, so it is much shorter than a half sleeve.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: half sleeve or half-sleeved?
half sleeve vs half-sleeved
Half-sleeved is the adjective used before a noun, as in a half-sleeved shirt, while half sleeve is the noun.
Practice
The tattoo artist said the design would fit as a ____ rather than cover his whole arm.
Choose one answer.
A half sleeve covers only part of the arm, which matches the contrast. A full sleeve covers the entire arm, so it is the opposite of what is meant.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “half sleeve”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.