tailor-make

verb

To customize or create specifically to meet the requirements of an individual.

Meanings

verbtailor-make (third-person singular simple present tailor-makes, present participle tailor-making, simple past and past participle tailor-made)

present singular third person tailor-makes · participle present tailor-making · participle past tailor-made · past tailor-made · alternative tailor make

  1. To customize or create specifically to meet the requirements of an individual.

    As we develop our skills at modelling, so we can adapt strategies to fit, tailor-make them for our personal preferences.

    2007, Andrew Lynch, How to Make a Good Mind Great, →ISBN, page 212
    2 more examples

    Financial services software providers enable a customer to more or less constantly tailor-make his or her banking services.

    2001, Richard Normann, Reframing Business: When the Map Changes the Landscape, →ISBN

    Rather than casting around in the dark, you can now tailor-make something from scratch with someone who knows exactly what is needed — and even better, who now has a vested interest in using the material.

    2004, Eric Beall, Susan Gedutis Lindsay, Making Music Make Money, →ISBN
  2. To make (clothes) by a tailor.

    In the tailor-making process, the tailor must take time to get all the exact measurements to ensure a proper fit.

    2003, Tara Keeling, Awesome Mysteries Beyond Heaven's Gate, →ISBN, page 86
    2 more examples

    The employee was unable to fit into the largest size, and the arbitrator held that it was not reasonable for the company to be required to tailor-make each costume or uniform.

    1997, Journal of Individual Employment Rights - Volume 6, page 105

    But what this has done is almost to define couture as anathema to dress, as if its contrast with the "prêt-à-porter" side of the fashion business is purchased with, not its "tailor-making" clothes that are fit to wear in a way those ready-to-wear never could be, but rather its making clothes that are not fit to wear at all!

    2012, Sinead Murphy, The Art Kettle, →ISBN, page 54

Synonyms & antonyms

verbcreate (clothes) with cloth

Similar

verbmake to specifications

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

German maßschneidern, maßschneidern
  • maßschneidernto customize or create specifically
  • maßschneidernto make by a tailor
Polish szyć na miarę, uszyć na miarę
  • szyć na miaręto customize or create specifically
  • uszyć na miaręto customize or create specifically
  • szyć na miaręto make by a tailor
  • uszyć na miaręto make by a tailor
Spanish customizar
  • customizarto customize or create specifically
Swedish skräddarsy, skräddarsy
  • skräddarsyto customize or create specifically
  • skräddarsyto make by a tailor
Cite this entry
APA

tailor-make. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailor-make

MLA

“tailor-make.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailor-make. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tailor-make,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tailor-make.

Source: tailor-make on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.