What does sandalled mean?
Sandalled means wearing sandals, usually open shoes secured by straps around the foot or ankle. The word describes a person's footwear and is commonly used in descriptive or literary contexts, especially when emphasizing the visible details of feet and seasonal clothing. It appears both before a noun, as in “sandalled feet,” and after a subject, as in “She was sandalled and ready for the walk.” The spelling is especially associated with British English; American English more often uses the variant “sandaled.” Although sandals have long been associated with warm weather, casual dress, and informal or traditional settings, the adjective itself does not carry a strongly negative connotation. Its main function is descriptive: it identifies the kind of footwear someone is wearing without implying a particular activity or social status.
adjectiveWearing sandals on the feet.
- Having or wearing sandals on the feet.
"A pair of sandalled feet rested in the warm sand."
"The sandalled hikers rested beside the trail."
"She stood sandalled and barefoot at the water's edge."
Sandalled wears the traditional British double l, while its transatlantic cousin sandaled wears just one.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sandalled come from?
The word ultimately comes from “sandal,” which entered English from Latin, where it was borrowed from Greek “sandalon,” a type of shoe or sandal. The adjective “sandalled” was formed by adding the suffix “-ed” to indicate that someone is wearing sandals. The alternative form “sandaled” follows the usual American convention of using a single l before an added suffix.
Related word forms
How sandalled is actually used
Predominantly British in spelling, though the word is understood in American English. It is normally used attributively before a noun, as in “sandalled feet,” or predicatively after the subject.
Easily confused with sandalled
Both words mean wearing sandals, but “sandalled” is the standard British spelling while “sandaled” is the usual American spelling.