widow’s weeds

American  

[wid-ohz weedz] / ˈwɪd oʊz ˈwidz /

plural noun

1. mourning clothes worn by a woman after the death of her spouse.

   She was still in widow’s weeds, but starting to attend more social engagements.

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Etymology

Origin of widow’s weeds

First recorded in 1570–80

Example Sentences

Glazed with jet lag, I found myself staring unabashedly into the cart of an old woman in widow's weeds.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2019

In the ’80s, an era of triangular fluorescent shoulders and moussed bangs, she sent widow’s weeds trailing down the runway.

From New York Times • Apr. 26, 2017

Please stop imposing some Victorian mandate that she must wear widow’s weeds for some period of time that you dictate.

From Slate • Jul. 1, 2014

Dressed in widow's weeds, she wears a downcast look as well as a distinctive brooch, as witness to the tragic death of her husband, to whom she appears to have been defiantly loyal ...

From The Guardian • Mar. 16, 2010

His finical delicacy was pained to a certain extent that the casting off her widow's weeds could be interpreted as a challenge to a fresh romance.

From The Storm Centre by Murfree, Mary Noailles