Meaning & use
skinsuit
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Meanings
nouncountable
A very tight one-piece garment that covers the whole body, worn for sports or performance.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a skinsuit' or 'skinsuits'.
Patterns
- wear a skinsuit
- in a skinsuit
The cyclist wore a bright yellow skinsuit for the time trial.
Speed skaters often wear skinsuits to reduce air resistance.
She changed into her skinsuit before the race.
nouncountable
A similar tight garment worn by performers, such as acrobats or dancers, to allow freedom of movement.
Grammar: Countable: 'a skinsuit', 'the skinsuits'.
Patterns
- wear a skinsuit
- perform in a skinsuit
The acrobats wore shimmering skinsuits for the show.
Her skinsuit was decorated with silver patterns.
Word forms
| plural | skinsuits |
|---|
Common combinations
- tight skinsuit
- He struggled to pull on the tight skinsuit.
- wear a skinsuit
- All competitors must wear a skinsuit in this event.
- full-body skinsuit
- The new full-body skinsuit improved her speed.
- cycling skinsuit
- He bought a professional cycling skinsuit.
- skinsuit with long sleeves
- She prefers a skinsuit with long sleeves for cold weather.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bodysuit
- A bodysuit is similar but often worn as everyday clothing or underwear, not usually for sports.
- wetsuit
- A wetsuit is made of rubber and worn for water sports to keep you warm, while a skinsuit is not necessarily for water.
- unitard
- A unitard is a tight one-piece garment for exercise or dance, but it may not cover the arms or be as aerodynamic.
Word family
- skin-tight adjective
- Fitting very closely to the skin, like a skinsuit.
Commonly confused: skinsuit or wetsuit? skinsuit or jumpsuit?
skinsuit vs wetsuit
A wetsuit is for water sports and made of neoprene; a skinsuit is for land sports or performance and made of stretchy fabric.
skinsuit vs jumpsuit
A jumpsuit is a loose one-piece garment for fashion or work, not tight like a skinsuit.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'skinsuit' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A skinsuit is for sports like cycling; it is not for swimming (that's a wetsuit), not for office wear, and not a towel.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skinsuit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.