bespoke en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /bəˈspɐʉk/ (New-Zealand)
- /bɪˈspəʉk/ (Australia)
- /bəˈspoʊk/ (Canada, General-American)
- /bɪˈspəʊk/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- audio Multicultural British English
- (Texas) audio
- /bɪˈspəʊk/ (Canada, General-American)
Etymology
In sense “custom-made”, 1755, from earlier bespoken (c. 1600), form of bespeak, in sense “arrange beforehand” (1580s), a prefixed variant of speak; compare order, made-to-order.
Meanings
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(Ireland, UK, not-comparable) Made or done in a way adjusted to the needs of a specific person or group (e.g., customer, health care patient, do-it-yourselfer), and thus specialized and, in some cases, unique.
Near-synonyms: custom-made, tailored, tailor-made, custom-built, purpose-built; see also Thesaurus:custom-made
People gathered round, since it was something of an event, their MP, in his bespoke pinstripe and red tie, clutching an old Wellington boot and about to hurl it through the air.
2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 10, in The Line of Beauty […], London: Picador, →ISBN:… others are attempting the more ambitious feat of engineering bespoke human organs from scratch.
2012 August 1, Ed Yong, “Replacement Parts”, in The Scientist, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2012:Marc Valeric, a Beverly Hills milliner, sold 125 bespoke hats in two weeks to women desperate to dress properly for royal receptions.
1983 March 7, Kurt Andersen, “Her Majesty in Mellowland”, in Time:Were Athenian pots bespoke, bearing images requested by Etruscans?
2001, Robin Osborne, “Why Did Athenian Pots Appeal to the Etruscans?”, in World Archaeology, volume 33, number 2, Taylor & Francis, →JSTOR, page 278:You need to get a nice bespoked suit. "Bespoke" means i's custom-made to fit your specific dimensions and emphasize what's flattering about your shape.
2017, “Elements Part 2: Bespoken For”, in Adventure Time:[I]t becomes a game of parkour just to change a battery, and when you’re working mostly alone that gets frustrating really fast, and when you get frustrated you get impulsive, and those impulses lead to half measure solutions, and those half measure solutions accumulate into a whole network of bespoke inefficiencies that you just live with because the process of unravelling them feels just so... big.
2024, Dan Olson, 1:06:09 from the start, in I Don't Know James Rolfe:There are 436 escalators in the London Underground, and every one is totally bespoke.
2016, The Tube: Going Underground, season 1, episode 6:
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(Ireland, UK, not-comparable) Relating to someone who makes custom-made products, especially clothing items.
a bespoke tailor
Deriveds
Synonyms
made-to-measure · purpose-built · tailored · tailor-made · tailor-made · made-to-order · custom-made · custom-built · custom-made · custom
Translations (38)
cmn 定做的 (individually or custom-made) · gl personalizado (individually or custom-made) · gl á medida (individually or custom-made) · ca a mida (locution) (individually or custom-made) · fr fait sur mesure (individually or custom-made) · es personalizado (individually or custom-made) · ru сде́ланный/изгото́вленный на зака́з (individually or custom-made) · fi mittatilaus- (individually or custom-made) · fi mittojen mukaan tehty (individually or custom-made) · fi yksilöllinen (individually or custom-made) · fr personnalisé (individually or custom-made) · fi mittatilaustöitä tekevä (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · es personalizante (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · sv skräddarsydd (individually or custom-made) · fi tilaustöitä tekevä (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · cmn 定製的 /定制的 (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · pt sob medida (individually or custom-made) · nb skreddersydd (individually or custom-made) · nb spesialtilpasset (individually or custom-made) · cs zakázkový (individually or custom-made) · fi räätälöity (individually or custom-made) · pl uszyty na miarę (individually or custom-made) · da skræddersyet (individually or custom-made) · fi erikoisvalmisteinen (individually or custom-made) · es customizado (individually or custom-made) · es a medida (locution) (individually or custom-made) · ja あつらえの (individually or custom-made) · es customizante (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · cs na míru (individually or custom-made) · it su misura (individually or custom-made) · nl op maat gemaakt (individually or custom-made) · fr taillé à sa mesure (individually or custom-made) · es tuneado (individually or custom-made) · fi mitta- (individually or custom-made) · tr ısmarlama (individually or custom-made) · cmn 定做的 (relating to someone who makes custom-made products) · de maßgeschneidert (individually or custom-made) · cmn 定製的 /定制的 (individually or custom-made)