bespoke
/bɪˈspəʊk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.20 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Made or done in a way adjusted to the needs of a specific person or group (e.g., customer, health care patient, do-it-yourselfer), and thus specialized and, in some cases, unique.
British usage
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: custom-made, tailored, tailor-made, custom-built, purpose-built; see also Thesaurus:custom-made"
- "Marc Valeric, a Beverly Hills milliner, sold 125 bespoke hats in two weeks to women desperate to dress properly for royal receptions."
- "Were Athenian pots bespoke, bearing images requested by Etruscans?"
- "People gathered round, since it was something of an event, their MP, in his bespoke pinstripe and red tie, clutching an old Wellington boot and about to hurl it through the air."
- "… others are attempting the more ambitious feat of engineering bespoke human organs from scratch."
- "There are 436 escalators in the London Underground, and every one is totally bespoke."
Etymology
In sense “custom-made”, 1755, from earlier bespoken (c. 1600), form of bespeak, in sense “arrange beforehand” (1580s), a prefixed variant of speak; compare order, made-to-order.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɪˈspəʊk/
- British English: /bɪˈspəʊk/