footwear
gb/fˈʊtwˌɛɹ/ us/fˈʊtwˌɛɹ/
B1
English
~ 6500
Senses
0 senses
Noun
B1
entity
1
Clothing worn on the feet
Things people wear on their feet, like shoes, boots, or sandals.
Usage pattern:
footwear for [activity]
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes treat 'footwear' as a regular countable noun and say *"a footwear" or "two footwears". In standard English, 'footwear' is usually uncountable and used like 'clothing'. Say 'some footwear', 'a piece of footwear', or name the specific item, such as 'a shoe' or 'a pair of boots'. Learners also sometimes use 'shoe' when talking about all types of things worn on the feet; 'footwear' is better when you mean the whole category (shoes, boots, sandals, etc.).
Synonyms
shoes (More common in speech but usually refers specifically to shoes, not all types of footwear like boots or sandals.)
|
footwear products (Often used in business or retail contexts to talk about footwear as goods for sale.)
|
footgear (Less common and slightly technical; can suggest special or protective footwear.)
Antonyms
barefoot (Describes having no footwear on the feet, which is the opposite condition of wearing footwear.)
Collocations
athletic footwear
|protective footwear
|formal footwear
|casual footwear
|footwear brand
|footwear industry
Themes
clothing
|daily life
|shopping
|fashion
|daily_life
|core_vocabulary
Examples
- Please remove your footwear before entering the house.
- The store specializes in high-quality outdoor footwear.
- Workers are required to wear protective footwear on the construction site.
- She designs sustainable footwear made from recycled materials.
- He packed light clothing and comfortable footwear for the trip.
Learner examples
- I need new footwear for work.
- She keeps her footwear by the door.
- This shop sells sports footwear.
- You must wear closed footwear in the lab.
- His footwear is dirty from the rain.
Grammar
Dictionary form
footwear
IPA
GB/fˈʊtwˌɛɹ/
US/fˈʊtwˌɛɹ/
Syllables & stress
foot - wear (2 syllables)
Stress on 1st syllable (foot)
Word forms
Noun
- Base: footwear
- Plural: footwear
Word family
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.