Finery

English

Noun

Finery (countable and uncountable; plural fineries)

1. (obsolete) Fineness; beauty.
2. Ornament; decoration; especially, excessive decoration; showy clothes; jewels.
3. (ironworking) A charcoal hearth or furnace for the conversion of cast iron into wrought iron, or into iron suitable for puddling.
   • 1957, H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry, p. 160:

     In front of the finery hearth in which the sow is melted down again, the finer is working with a long iron bar called a ringer (from French 'ringard') with which he keeps the molten iron in motion by stirring, an essential stage in the process of refining.

Related terms

• fine

See also

• (charcoal hearth): refinery

Adjectives for Finery

metropolitan; priceless; grotesque; worthless; gaudy; tawdry; verdant; shimmering; bright; thin; elaborate; ruinous; scarlet; barbaric; natural.

Verbs for Finery

addict to—; adorn in—; appreciate—; be- deck in—; clothe in—; crave—; deck in—; decorate in—; degenerate into—; display—; dress in—; envy—; exhibit—; indulge in—; observe—; prefer—; sport (colloq.)—; view —; —amazes; —attracts; —impresses; — consoles.

Thesaurus

Sunday best, apparel, bravery, chiffon, clinquant, clothes, decorations, fancy dress, festoons, folderol, foofaraw, frill, frilliness, frilling, frills, frills and furbelows, frippery, froufrou, full dress, fuss, gaiety, gaudery, gear, gewgaw, gilding, gilt, gingerbread, ornament, ornaments, party dress, paste, pinchbeck, regalia, superfluity, tinsel, trappings, trickery, trimming, trinkets, trumpery, war paint

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈfaɪnəɹi/, SAMPA: /"faIn@ri/