Meanings
plural wardrobe malfunctions
- euphemisticAn accidental counterpart of indecent exposure caused by a fault in someone's clothing (especially that of a performer) or by an error made while changing clothes.
Monaco, a 23-year-old Argentinian seeded No. 23, survived the most unlikely wardrobe malfunction to save a match point and win a third-set tiebreaker, 8-6.
2007 September 4, Kathleen McElroy, “But Wait! Djokovic Is Still Playing”, in New York Times Straight Sets, retrieved 17 Apr 2021
Origin
An Americanism, coined by singer Justin Timberlake in 2004 to describe the incident during Super Bowl XXXVIII in which singer Janet Jackson's right breast was bared.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 走光
- 走光 (zǒuguāng)euphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
Finnish vaatemoka
- vaatemokaeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
Polish przypadkowe obnażenie się
- przypadkowe obnażenie sięeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
Spanish falla indumentaria, fallo de vestimenta
- falla indumentariaeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
- fallo de vestimentaeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
- yerro de vestiduraeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
- erro de vestuarioeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
Turkish frikik
- frikikeuphemism: an accidental instance of indecent exposure
Cite this entry
wardrobe malfunction. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wardrobe%20malfunction
“wardrobe malfunction.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wardrobe%20malfunction. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wardrobe malfunction,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wardrobe%20malfunction.
Source: wardrobe malfunction on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.