denim

D2E1N1I1M3
UK/ˈdɛnɪm/Canada, US/ˈdɛnəm/

noun

A textile often made of cotton with a distinct diagonal pattern.

CommonScrabble 8

Meanings

noundenim (countable and uncountable, plural denims)

plural denims

  1. countableuncountableA textile often made of cotton with a distinct diagonal pattern.

    Fabrics: Gamine fabrics are informal as possible. For sports: tweeds, flannels, suedes, cottons, and denims;

    1938, Omnibook, page 465
    2 more examples

    The Mexican people want a cheaper grade of drillings, sheetings, denims, and other fabrics than are called for in our domestic markets, and purchase them in England because they can not be bought in the United States.

    1889, William Eleroy Curtis, “The Commerce of Mexico”, in Trade and Transportation Between the United States and Spanish America, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, part first (Trade), chapter section “The cotton trade”, page 31

    Indigo, a typical member of this group of dyes, is widely used on denims and other fabrics for work clothes because of its very low cost and excellent fastness to washing.

    1946, United States Tariff Commission, Dyes: Prepared in Response to Requests from the Committee on Finance of the United States Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives (War Changes in Industry Series; Report No. 19), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, page 25

Synonyms & antonyms

noun(used in the plural) close-fitting trousers of heavy denim for manual work or casual wear

nouna coarse durable twill-weave cotton fabric

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From the French phrase de Nîmes (“from Nîmes”), after the French town of Nîmes, where denim fabric was originally produced.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic جِينْز, دِينِم
  • جِينْز (jīnz)textile with diagonal pattern
  • دِينِم (dīnim)textile with diagonal pattern
Bulgarian дени́м
  • дени́м (dením)textile with diagonal pattern
Catalan denim, teixit texà
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
  • teixit texàtextile with diagonal pattern
Chinese Cantonese 牛仔布
  • 牛仔布 (ngau⁴ zai² bou³)textile with diagonal pattern
Chinese Mandarin 牛仔布, 丹寧布 /丹宁布
  • 牛仔布 (niúzǎibù)textile with diagonal pattern
  • 丹寧布 /丹宁布 (dānníngbù)textile with diagonal pattern
  • 丹寧 /丹宁 (dānníng)textile with diagonal pattern
Czech džínsovina, džínovina
  • džínsovinatextile with diagonal pattern
  • džínovinatextile with diagonal pattern
Dutch denim, spijkerstof
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
  • spijkerstoftextile with diagonal pattern
Esperanto ĝinzoŝtofo, denimo
  • ĝinzoŝtofotextile with diagonal pattern
  • denimotextile with diagonal pattern
Estonian teksariie, teksasriie
  • teksariietextile with diagonal pattern
  • teksasriietextile with diagonal pattern
Finnish denimi, farkkukangas
  • denimitextile with diagonal pattern
  • farkkukangastextile with diagonal pattern
French denim
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
German Denim, Baumwolldrillich
  • Denimtextile with diagonal pattern
  • Baumwolldrillichtextile with diagonal pattern
  • Jeansgewebetextile with diagonal pattern
  • Jeansstofftextile with diagonal pattern
  • Kattuntextile with diagonal pattern
  • Jeans-textile with diagonal pattern
Greek τζην
  • τζην (tzin)textile with diagonal pattern
Icelandic dením
  • denímtextile with diagonal pattern
Irish deinim, géin
  • deinimtextile with diagonal pattern
  • géintextile with diagonal pattern
Japanese デニム
  • デニム (denimu)textile with diagonal pattern
Korean 데님
  • 데님 (denim)textile with diagonal pattern
Māori tāngari, tenimi
  • tāngaritextile with diagonal pattern
  • tenimitextile with diagonal pattern
Persian جین
  • جین (jin)textile with diagonal pattern
Polish dżins, jeans
  • dżinstextile with diagonal pattern
  • jeanstextile with diagonal pattern
  • teksastextile with diagonal pattern
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
Portuguese jeans, ganga
  • jeanstextile with diagonal pattern
  • gangatextile with diagonal pattern
  • brimtextile with diagonal pattern
Russian дени́м, джи́нсовая ткань
  • дени́м (dɛním)textile with diagonal pattern
  • джи́нсовая ткань (džínsovaja tkanʹ)textile with diagonal pattern
  • джинс (džins)textile with diagonal pattern
Spanish mezclilla, tela tejana
  • mezclillatextile with diagonal pattern
  • tela tejanatextile with diagonal pattern
Swedish jeans, denim
  • jeanstextile with diagonal pattern
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
Tagalog maong
  • maongtextile with diagonal pattern
Turkish denim, kot
  • denimtextile with diagonal pattern
  • kottextile with diagonal pattern
  • blucintextile with diagonal pattern

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

denim. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/denim

MLA

“denim.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/denim. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “denim,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/denim.

Source: denim on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.