Etymology

frippery

F4R1I1P3P3E1R1Y4

Today it means: Ostentation, as in fancy clothing. Full definition →

French friperie ← Old French fripier
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The story

  1. Old French · derived fromfripier“to rub up and down, to wear into rags”
  2. French · borrowed fromfriperie
  3. English todayfrippery

From French friperie, from Old French fripier (“to rub up and down, to wear into rags”). Compare fripper.

Words from the same roots

Frenchfriperie all →

frippish

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.