bespoke

adjective

be·​spoke bi-ˈspōk How to pronounce bespoke (audio)
bē-
variants or less commonly bespoken
1
a
: custom-made
a bespoke suit
b
: dealing in or producing custom-made articles
a bespoke tailor
2
dialect : engaged

Did you know?

In the English language of yore, the verb bespeak had various meanings, including “to speak,” “to accuse,” and “to complain.” In the 16th century, bespeak acquired another meaning: “to order or arrange in advance.” It is from that sense that we get the adjective bespoke, referring to clothes and other things that are ordered before they are made. Bespoke has enjoyed a spike in usage in recent years, perhaps due to consumer trends that champion all things artisanal over those that are prefab.

Examples of bespoke in a Sentence

a wealthy man who can easily afford bespoke suits
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.
Precision hand-work like soldering detonators, balancing rotors, and packing warheads remains hard to automate at scale without a bespoke factory line. Harry Law, Time, 5 June 2025 The core idea is to allow agents—defined as automation primitives—to be initialized with domain-specific goals and constraints, without requiring bespoke engineering. Egor Pushkin, Forbes.com, 4 June 2025 Working quickly, his doctors were able to use new gene-editing technology called CRISPR, designing a bespoke treatment just for him. Sony Salzman, ABC News, 4 June 2025 This car will eventually receive bespoke paint—referencing a famous 1930s racing Bugatti—and a very modern Apple CarPlay interface. Ben Oliver, Robb Report, 4 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for bespoke

Word History

Etymology

past participle of bespeak

First Known Use

1607, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of bespoke was in 1607

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Cite this Entry

“Bespoke.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bespoke. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.

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