grosgrain

G2R1O1S1G2R1A1I1N1
UK/ˈɡɹəʊɡɹeɪn/

noun

A silk fabric having narrow, horizontal ribs.

OriginFrench gros-grain →
UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

noungrosgrain (countable and uncountable, plural grosgrains)

plural grosgrains

  1. countableuncountableA silk fabric having narrow, horizontal ribs.
  2. countableuncountableA close-woven fabric (usually made from silk or rayon) having narrow horizontal ribs.
  3. countableuncountableA ribbon made of this fabric.

    He was on a leash, I realized. The grosgrain strap was wrapped around her hand.

    2022, Ling Ma, “Returning”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN

Origin

  1. Frenchgros-grain“coarse grain, a strong fabric”
  2. Englishgrosgrain

Borrowed from French gros-grain (“coarse grain, a strong fabric”), from gros (“coarse”) + grain (“grain”). Doublet of grogram, which was borrowed earlier.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Italian canneté
  • cannetéTranslations
Japanese グログラン
  • グログラン (guroguran)Translations
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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