What does vogue mean?
Word: Vogue
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Vogue means the fashion or style that is popular at a particular time.
Synonyms: fashion, craze
Word origin: Borrowed from French in the 1500s; the French word itself goes back to an Italian one.
How do you spell vogue?
Syllables: vogue
Tricky part: There is only one syllable, yet the word does not stop at the g: a silent u and a silent e follow it, so students write voge or vogh.
Watch out for: voge, vogu, voag
Memory tip: Picture a fashion model on a catwalk followed by two silent helpers, u and e, walking quietly behind the g.
Idioms and Phrases
- in vogue: fashionable and popular at the moment Example: "Block-printed cotton shirts are in vogue this summer."
Vogue in a sentence
Example 1: Board games are back in vogue on our street.
Example 2: Bright trainers were the vogue among the senior students this year.
Example 3: Grandpa says wide shirt collars had a big vogue when he was young.
Fun Fact
English has used vogue for the fashion of the moment since the 1600s; before that it meant the leading place in popularity.
Practise the CREST Way
Sound Check
Choose the word that rhymes with vogue in the sentence:
Long winter coats with big buttons came back into vogue last year.
a) vague
b) tongue
c) brogue
d) league
Show answer
c) brogue. All four end in -gue, but only brogue, a sturdy leather shoe, has the long o of vogue.
Jumble Tumble
Which option has letters that you can rearrange to form a word from the world of fashion?
a) geuvoa
b) ugeov
c) nevgou
d) egvu
Show answer
b) ugeov. Only ugeov holds exactly the letters needed; the others have one letter too many or one too few.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its synonym:
1. vogue 2. vigilant 3. valour a. watchful b. bravery c. trend
a) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
b) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b
c) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
d) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
Show answer
b) 1-c, 2-a, 3-b. A trend is the vogue of the day, a vigilant guard is watchful, and valour is another word for bravery.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option to fill the blank:
Vogue reached English through French from the Italian word voga, which meant ___.
a) rowing
b) painting
c) sewing
d) singing
Show answer
a) rowing. Voga meant rowing; the picture of a boat gliding along well grew into the sense of something doing well and being popular.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. If bell-bottom trousers come back into vogue, what will you most likely notice?
a) tailors charging much less
b) schools banning them
c) shops refusing to sell them
d) more people wearing them
Show answer
d) more people wearing them
2. A shop owner says tie-dye shirts have 'gone out of vogue'. What does she mean?
a) they are hard to wash
b) they have all been sold
c) they are no longer fashionable
d) they cost too much to make
Show answer
c) they are no longer fashionable
