Plush

How to spell plush

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce plush

What does plush mean?

1. adjectiveRichly comfortable, expensive, and luxurious in feel or appearance.
2. nounA fabric with a long, soft pile, thicker and softer than velvet.

Plush in a sentence

• adjective

  The hotel suite was plush and far beyond their usual budget.

• noun

  The antique sofa was covered in faded red plush.

• adjective

  New staff were given a plush corner office overlooking the river.

• noun

  The teddy bear was sewn from soft brown plush.

Where does plush come from?

Language of origin: French

Plush entered English in the late 1500s from the French word peluche, the name for a fabric woven with a long, soft pile. That French word grew out of the Old French verb peluchier, meaning 'to pluck' or 'to pull at the surface', which traces back to the Latin pilus, literally 'a hair', the same root that lies behind 'pile' in the textile sense. The original plush was a heavy cloth with a nap longer and softer than velvet, used for upholstery and rich clothing. Because that thick, soft fabric signalled comfort and wealth, the word later shifted into an adjective meaning 'luxurious' or 'expensively comfortable', a sense that became common in the early 1900s. The short, blunt spelling hides its elegant French ancestry, so it helps to remember that the single 'sh' ending matches its plain four-letter look rather than any fancier form.

How the word is built

• plush (from French peluche, fabric with a deep pile, ultimately Latin pilus 'hair')