Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person, especially a man, who is excessively concerned with fashion and personal appearance: This meaning describes someone who is very attentive to their clothing and style, often to a noticeable degree.
   • A frame or stand for hanging clothes, especially for drying or airing: This refers to a physical object, typically made of wood, metal, or plastic, used to hold garments.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Person):

  • He's such a clotheshorse, spending hours choosing the perfect outfit.
  • The magazine profiled the city's most famous clotheshorses.

• Noun (Object):

  • She hung the wet sweater on the clotheshorse to dry.
  • We need a new clotheshorse for the laundry room.

Advanced Usage

• The term clotheshorse can sometimes carry a slightly critical or humorous tone when referring to a person, implying vanity or excessive focus on attire.
  • He was dismissed as a mere clotheshorse, more interested in his wardrobe than his work.

Variants and Related Words

• Fashion plate (n): A person who dresses in the height of fashion. (Synonymous with the "person" meaning of clotheshorse).
• Drying rack (n): A common synonym for the "object" meaning of clotheshorse.
• Garment rack (n): Another term for a frame used to hang clothes.

Synonyms

• For the person: Dandy, fop, fashionista, beau.
• For the object: Clothes rack, airer, drying stand.

Related Idioms

• While not a direct idiom, the term clotheshorse itself is a metaphorical compound, comparing a person preoccupied with clothes to a frame that holds clothes.

Noun

1. a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance
2. a framework on which to hang clothes (as for drying)