cross-dressing

noun

cross-dress·​ing ˈkrȯs-ˌdre-siŋ How to pronounce cross-dressing (audio)
: the wearing of clothes designed for the opposite sex
cross-dress intransitive verb
cross-dresser noun

Examples of cross-dressing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Here too the plot sends her character, the struggling actress and sometime lover of Dustin Hoffman’s cross-dressing soap star, up the river as needed. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 30 Oct. 2024 An effeminate, cross-dressing serial killer who murders women staying at his hotel — and gets into arguments with the skeleton of his dead mother — Norman Bates may have been in the closet, but the walls were definitely made of glass. Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 12 June 2024 But before the gender-bending, cross-dressing antics unfold, Harris will encourage Americans to register to vote. Karu F. Daniels, New York Daily News, 25 July 2024 While looking for belonging, a trans actor becomes best friends with the spirit of William Shakespeare and embraces the gender-fluid, cross-dressing roots in the latter's plays. Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 22 July 2024 Isabelle Eberhardt: Travel’s Rebel with a Cause A hash-smoking, cross-dressing woman traveling the Sahara in the early 1900s, Eberhardt unpicked the fabric of society just by being herself. JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024 There was a lot of singing and erotic dancing in the barn, but also some serious, pioneering discussions in which psychiatrists from the Kinsey Institute spoke about the psychology of cross-dressing in a safe space. Olivia B. Waxman, TIME, 6 June 2024 Big Momma’s House (2000) The Hangover movies look highbrow compared to one of Giamatti’s first major gigs: playing the long-suffering buddy-cop partner to a cross-dressing Martin Lawrence. A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024 Editor’s picks This kind of closeted representation was less than ideal — as were later visions of non-cisgender identity in horror (see cross-dressing serial killers, like Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs). Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 12 May 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cross-dressing was in 1911

Dictionary Entries Near cross-dressing

Cite this Entry

“Cross-dressing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cross-dressing. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

cross-dressing

noun
cross-dress·​ing
ˈkrȯs-ˌdres-iŋ
: the wearing of clothes made for the opposite sex
cross-dresser
-ər
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on cross-dressing

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!