Word of the Day:

December 10, 2024

brogue

noun BROHG

What it Means

A brogue is a low shoe, usually made of leather, that is decorated with small holes along the sides at the toe, and that usually features a wing tip.

// Even though his brogues are scuffed and old, Dad prefers them to his new loafers.

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Brogue in Context

"Paired with a cropped white T-shirt, midi-skirt, and brogues, Gigi [Hadid] was the yin to [Taylor] Swift’s yang." — Hannah Coates, Vogue, 21 June 2023

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Did You Know?

Did you expect brogue to be defined as "an Irish accent"? We're sure you're not alone: brogue has two homographs (words that are spelled—and, in this case, pronounced—the same but have different origins or parts of speech). The brogue that refers to the shoe comes from the Irish word bróg and Scottish Gaelic bròg, and likely traces back to an Old Norse term meaning "leg covering." (That ancestor is related to an ancestor of the English word breech.) Originating in Ireland, the brogue was designed to be a worker's shoe and was made from untanned hides. The "accent" brogue comes from a different Irish word, barróg, which can refer to an accent or speech impediment and translates literally as "tight grip."