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• moire
  moire

  noun

  any moiré fabric.
• moiré
  moiré

  adjective

  (of silks and other fabrics) presenting a watery or wavelike appearance.

moire

¹ American  

[mwahr, mawr, mohr] / mwɑr, mɔr, moʊr /

noun

1. any moiré fabric.

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moiré ² American  

[mwah-rey, mawr-ey, mohr-ey, mwa-rey] / mwɑˈreɪ, ˈmɔr eɪ, ˈmoʊr eɪ, mwaˈreɪ /

adjective

1. (of silks and other fabrics) presenting a watery or wavelike appearance.

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noun

1. a design pressed on silk, rayon, etc., by engraved rollers.

2. any silk, rayon, etc., fabric with a watery or wavelike appearance.

3. Printing. an interference pattern of dots appearing in the print of process color.

moiré ¹ British  

/ ˈmwɑːreɪ /

adjective

1. having a watered or wavelike pattern

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noun

1. such a pattern, impressed on fabrics by means of engraved rollers

2. any fabric having such a pattern; moire

3. Also: moiré pattern.  a pattern seen when two geometrical patterns, such as grids, are visually superimposed

moire ² British  

/ mwɑː /

noun

1. a fabric, usually silk, having a watered effect

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Etymology

Origin of moire¹

1650–60; < French < English mohair

Origin of moiré²

From French, dating back to 1810–20; see origin at moire, -ee

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

moire moiré

But the returns will arrive moire slowly than current spending suggests.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 15, 2026

If I shift my head or the phone even a little, there’s a moire effect that instantly draws my eye — even after a week of use it’s still happening.

From The Verge ● Aug. 24, 2021

Last month, Harry Styles put out his video for Lights Up in which he wears a blue silk moire suit designed by long-time collaborator Harris Reed.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 16, 2019

“It all started with a Joseph Szabo image, where the girl was wearing a moire dress,” said Mr. Kane backstage, referring to the photographer and his teenager subjects.

From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2012

She ran her hand further back and brought out a moire silk dress with a pleated bodice and scalloped hem—a safe choice since the pink was muted and musty enough for evening wear.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

In most moiré systems, the size of physical effects is determined directly by the interference pattern created when two crystal lattices overlap.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026

They observed magnetic textures reaching distances of up to ~300 nm, far exceeding the size of a single moiré cell and roughly ten times larger than the underlying wavelength.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 2, 2026

But the human stain is not without a comic essence, too, which Ruscha drew out in a wonderful group of word-paintings on shiny moiré fabric.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

Another of them, rendered almost invisibly in shellac on deep cobalt blue moiré, circles around to give the exhibition its trenchant title: “Now then, as I was about to say …”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2024

Claire opened the bag and gazed with admiration at a brown moiré antique lining, and fittings of tortoiseshell, bearing raised monograms in gold.

From The Independence of Claire by Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey