What does voguishness mean?
Voguishness means the quality of being fashionable, stylish, or currently popular. It is most often used to describe a person, style, object, or cultural preference that reflects whatever is presently in vogue. The word can be approving, especially when it suggests elegance or an appealing sense of fashion, but it can also be mildly critical when it implies that something is being followed because it is popular rather than because it has lasting value. Voguishness differs from vogue itself: a vogue is the trend or fashion, while voguishness is the characteristic quality associated with following or embodying it. The word is useful when discussing style and cultural trends because it captures both the attraction of novelty and the possible shallowness of chasing novelty.
nounThe quality of being fashionable, stylish, or currently popular. It can also suggest an exaggerated or temporary interest in whatever is in vogue.
- The quality of being fashionable, stylish, or currently popular, especially in a way that follows current trends.
"The dresser's voguishness suited the season, though some critics found it more attention-grabbing than elegant."
"Her voguishness made even an ordinary coat seem like part of the latest Parisian look."
"The article was criticized for its voguishness and its tendency to celebrate passing fashions as timeless style."
The plural is grammatically regular but rare in ordinary use.
"The magazine discussed several voguishnesses that had emerged in the previous season."
Voguishness names the peculiar power of anything current to make being in style feel like an identity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of voguishness
Voguishness is formed from voguish, meaning fashionable or in the vogue, together with the noun-forming suffix -ness. Vogue entered English from French, whose word derives from Italian voga, meaning fashion or popularity, ultimately from Latin vocare, “to call.” The same Latin root underlies words such as vocation and evocative, although those words developed in different semantic directions.
How voguishness is actually used
Somewhat literary and evaluative. It is generally neutral in meaning but can imply conspicuous fashion-consciousness, superficial trend-following, or a temporary popularity.
Easily confused with voguishness
Vogue can refer to a fashion, trend, or form of popularity, whereas voguishness is the quality of being fashionable or stylish.