jean

noun

ˈjēn 

plural jeans

1

: a durable twilled cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

usually jeans

ˈjēnz 

: pants usually made of denim or jean

… strolling with royal puppy Lupo through Kensington Gardens near the couple's two-bedroom cottage in a pair of jeans and rain boots.

—Alicia Dennis et al.

Millions of people today buy designer jeans for double the price of equally durable generic jeans …

—Jared Diamond

see also blue jeans, mom jeans

Examples of jean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Flare jeans are having a renaissance in celebrity closets. —Clara McMahon, People.com, 20 Aug. 2025

Madewell recently launched the Balloon Jean, a 100 percent cotton jean designed with a high rise and exaggerated barrel-leg shape. —Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 19 Aug. 2025

She can be seen sitting on her bed dressed in black jeans and a vest top with her dog running about next to her. —Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 19 Aug. 2025

And even though this item is created in collaboration with New York stylist and clean-girl aesthetic lover Coco Schiffer, this campy V-neck blouse really adds some personality, cheer, and silhouette to either its matching co-ord shorts or a pair of jeans. —Alexandra Pereira, Travel + Leisure, 18 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

short for jean fustian, from Middle English Gene Genoa, Italy + fustian

First Known Use

1567, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing jean

• jean shorts

Rhymes for jean

• bean
• bein
• bien
• bouin
• chine
• clean
• deen
• diene
• gene
• glean
• keen
• lien

Kids Definition

jean

noun

ˈjēn 

1

: a heavy cotton cloth used especially for sportswear and work clothes

2

plural : pants made of jean, denim, or corduroy

Etymology

a shortened form of earlier jean fustian, literally "a fustian (heavy cotton cloth) from Genoa," from Middle English Gene "Genoa, Italy"