1
: a plaid textile design of Scottish origin consisting of stripes of varying width and color usually patterned to designate a distinctive clan
2
a
: a twilled woolen fabric with tartan design
b
: a fabric with tartan design
3
: a garment of tartan design
Examples of tartan in a Sentence
a kilt in the clan's tartan
Recent Examples on the Web
Cozy leather chairs, animal accents and Scottish elements like the Stewart family’s tartan make the space feel like a wise and worldly traveler’s home.
—
Katie Sweeney, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
Photo: Getty Images Paired with a tartan Gucci skirt that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Princess Diana or Tara Palmer-Tomkinson during the King’s Road heyday, Kate proved that sometimes the past is our biggest inspiration.
—Olivia Allen, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2025
All of the tartans that are definitely worth arguing over in this context are in the blue-and-green family, so hopefully that detail, along with the perpetrator’s surgical mask, will help efforts to identify him.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
Since then, the act has played a couple thousand shows and released a dozen albums that dig into Celtic traditions of all stripes and tartans.
—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tartan
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Katie Sweeney, Forbes, 24 Mar. 2025
Photo: Getty Images Paired with a tartan Gucci skirt that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Princess Diana or Tara Palmer-Tomkinson during the King’s Road heyday, Kate proved that sometimes the past is our biggest inspiration.
—Olivia Allen, Vogue, 27 Feb. 2025
All of the tartans that are definitely worth arguing over in this context are in the blue-and-green family, so hopefully that detail, along with the perpetrator’s surgical mask, will help efforts to identify him.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 13 Feb. 2025
Since then, the act has played a couple thousand shows and released a dozen albums that dig into Celtic traditions of all stripes and tartans.
—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tartan
Cite this Entry
“Tartan.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tartan. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
tartan
noun
tar·tan
ˈtärt-ᵊn 
1
: a plaid textile design of Scottish origin
2
: a fabric or garment with tartan design
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