Vogue

How to spell vogue

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce vogue

What does vogue mean?

1. nounThe prevailing fashion or popularity of something at a particular time.
2. adjectiveCurrently popular or fashionable.

Vogue in a sentence

• noun

  Open-plan offices came into vogue in the early 2000s.

• adjective

  Working from home became a vogue choice after the pandemic.

• noun

  That hairstyle was very much in vogue during the 1980s.

• adjective

  Sustainable packaging is now a vogue topic at industry conferences.

Where does vogue come from?

Language of origin: French

This word arrived in English in the 1500s from French, where vogue meant 'fashion' or 'current popularity'. The French noun grew out of the verb voguer, meaning 'to row a boat' or 'to sail along', so the underlying image is of something gliding smoothly forward on the water. The French in turn took the idea from Italian voga, the act of rowing, which is linked to the verb vogare. The leap from rowing to fashion came through the sense of being carried along by a prevailing current; what is 'in vogue' is simply moving with the popular tide. That seafaring origin explains the unexpected silent finish: the word keeps its French shape, with the 'gue' ending pronounced as a plain hard 'g', which is the spelling trap for English writers.

How the word is built

• vogue (from French vogue: fashion, popularity; ultimately from voguer: to row, to sail along)