plissé

noun

plis·sé pli-ˈsā

variants or plisse

: a fabric with a plissé finish

: a textile finish of permanently puckered designs formed by treating with a sodium hydroxide solution

Examples of plissé in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Carpenter highlights accents like scalloping along chair edges, shapely profiles, and linear textures like plisse. —

Kristina McGuirk, Better Homes & Gardens, 15 Feb. 2023 Wood paneling, rattan, and plisse cabinetry accents add of-the-moment dimension to the natural, neutral hues. —

Kristina McGuirk, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Dec. 2022 Wallpaper print has enjoyed a revival in 2020, as plisse, damask and toile de jouy prints made their return onto whimsical apparel this spring. —

Rachel Besser, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2020 An intarsia velvet plisse dress, which took 960 hours to make, had blown-up baroque motifs. —

Thomas Adamson, The Seattle Times, 5 July 2017

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, noun derivative from masculine past participle of plisser "to fold, pleat, crease," going back to Middle French, probably verbal derivative of plis, plural of pli "fold, pleat" — more at ply entry 2

Note: Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (vol. 9, p. 74, note 16) suggests that alternatively the derivation may have been modeled on plais "hedge made from interweaved branches" : plaissier "to interweave branches to form a hedge".

First Known Use

1859, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of plissé was in 1859

See more words from the same year