mannequin

noun

man·​ne·​quin ˈma-ni-kən 

1

: an artist's, tailor's, or dressmaker's lay figure

also : a form representing the human figure used especially for displaying clothes

2

: one employed to model clothing

Synonyms

• dummy
• figure
• form
• manikin
• mannikin

Examples of mannequin in a Sentence

the mannequin over there looks so real

mannequins striding down the catwalk in the designer's spring collection

Recent Examples on the Web

The company also said that enhanced visual merchandising in stores and the reintroduction of mannequins on the shop floor; cross-category styling ,and styling innovations on the Burberry website also helped to tempt customers. —Samantha Conti, WWD, 24 Jan. 2025

Draping, by the way, is the process of creating a garment by pinning and arranging fabrics directly on a mannequin, or even on a person, which might sound odd but is not at all unusual in high fashion. —Rachel Elspeth Gross, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025

Williams has since leaned into the house’s history, dressing up a Puente-like mannequin on the front porch and framing photographs on the wall that document Puente’s history there. —Sean Neumann, People.com, 18 Jan. 2025

The dress, made of nude and black tulle and hand-embroidered with over 100,000 beads and sequins, was originally shown on a mannequin, and had never been worn by a human being before. —Hannah Jackson, Vogue, 20 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, from Dutch mannekijn little man — more at manikin

First Known Use

1730, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

mannequin

noun

man·​ne·​quin ˈman-i-kən 

1

: an artist's, tailor's, or dressmaker's jointed figure of the human body

2

: a form representing the human figure used especially for displaying clothes

3

: a person employed to model clothing