dressed.
ill-clad vagrants.
covered.
vine-clad cottages.
before 950; Middle English cladd ( e ), Old English clāthod ( e ) clothed. See clothe, -ed 2
First recorded in 1935–40; special use of clad 1
Clad means "dressed or covered." Most kids go to school clad in jeans and t-shirts, but students in the Shakespeare club might show up clad in velvet gowns or leather breeches. As a verb, clad is the past tense and past particle of “clothe,” as in “the leprechaun clad himself in green.” It’s also an adjective that describes being covered or clothed, so a building can be clad in brick, while a person can be clad in head-to-toe sequins. It’s an old-fashioned word, kind of like “shod,” which means “wearing footwear.”
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Another image showed Trump looming over warships, dressed as a military commander clad in gold armor, as fighter jets flew overhead.
From Barron's • Jun. 8, 2026
On Thursday, the North Korean leader, clad in his signature black leather jacket, inspected his country’s first nuclear-capable warship as it navigated off North Korea’s west coast.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 8, 2026
A group of about 15 men, mostly clad in black, swarmed around her and the children to cover their faces from the waiting media pack.
From BBC • May 7, 2026
Allen, clad in a royal blue jumpsuit, showed no visible injuries and said little at the hearing, aside from identifying himself and acknowledging that he understood the legal proceedings.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 27, 2026
She was clad as a Rider and girl with a sword.
From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
