leggings

nounB1+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,331 of 15,258neutral

Leggings are tight stretchy trousers that cling to the leg. A pair of leggings, wear leggings, black leggings.

The word is plural only, like trousers. They were riding and working wear for centuries before becoming exercise clothing, and the argument about whether leggings count as trousers has been running for a decade.

Definitions of leggings

1nounleggingsTight stretchy trousers that cling to the leg.B1+
“She wore black leggings and a long jumper to her yoga class.”

leggings is a garment.

Where it comes from

legging comes from leg + -ing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Clothes & Fashion

Practise this word

leggings in the wild

Danish and Saxon invaders used bast as a form of binding to tie leggings and other items.
Woodbastwick
As a consequence, Woodbastwick's village sign shows two invaders tying their leggings.
Woodbastwick
During winter and colder months, denim skirts are often worn with leggings or tights.
Denim skirt
Kyahan are cloth leggings which were worn by the samurai class and their retainers in feudal Japan.
Kyahan
A sundress is typically worn without a layering top and is not usually worn over a blouse, sweater, or t-shirt, or with leggings.
Sundress

1 / 2

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

← Vocabulary