fitted

Pluralfitteds

1. 1
   adjective

   Cut or tailored to follow the shape of a person's body closely.

   He wore a fitted blazer that traced the line of his shoulders.

   The seamstress recommended a more fitted cut for the gown.

   Similartailored, snug, tight, slim

   Oppositeloose, baggy, oversized

   Note

   A tailor's word that sorts garments into kinds: a fitted jacket is shaped to the body, unlike a loose or boxy one. It usually works as a yes-or-no label rather than a matter of degree, though dressmakers do speak of a more fitted cut. The same idea of shaping to fit closely gives the nouns for a close-fitting cap and a shaped diaper.

2. 2
   verb

   Past participle of fit.

   The jacket had been fitted to her frame before the show.

   Every uniform was fitted to each recruit individually.

   Note

   The participle that does the work in passives and perfects: a suit is fitted to its wearer, a seamstress has fitted the hem. Because the passive describes a finished alteration, it slides easily into the adjective for close-cut clothing. A jacket that was fitted becomes a fitted jacket. The verb names the act; the adjective names the result.

3. 3
   verb

   Simple past of fit.

   The seamstress fitted the gown to the bride's measurements.

   He fitted the new sleeves to the jacket in an afternoon.

   Note

   Here fitted is the uncontested past: when a tailor or a carpenter adjusts something to size, the -ed form is the one everyone uses. The verb takes the thing being altered as its object, often with to marking the target: fitted the gown to her measurements, fitted sleeves to a jacket. The same spelling then carries on as the participle and as the adjective for close-cut clothes.

4. 4
   adjective

   Built with all the fixtures combined into connected units rather than installed as separate, freestanding pieces. Used of kitchens, bathrooms, and similar rooms.

   The apartment came with a fitted bathroom, every fixture set into matching units.

   A fitted kitchen runs the cabinets, oven, and sink into one continuous design.

   Similarintegrated, built-in

   Oppositeunfitted

   Note

   A word from kitchen and bathroom design that comes almost always before its noun: a fitted kitchen, a fitted bathroom, fitted wardrobes. It is an either-or term rather than a matter of degree, so nothing is more fitted than another. Its opposite, unfitted, describes a room furnished with freestanding pieces that can be moved or replaced one at a time.

5. 5
   nounslangUScountable

   A baseball cap made in fixed sizes, with no adjustable strap at the back.

   He never leaves the house without his fitted pulled low over his eyes.

   The shop sells fitteds in every team's colors.

   Oppositesnapback

   Note

   Street slang clipped from fitted cap, with the regular plural fitteds. It turns up in recent rap lyrics, such as Thunder Bklu & Dougie B's "Doomsday" (2022), where aiming for someone's fitted means aiming at his head. That violent edge is worth knowing. Outside casual talk, fitted cap is the neutral way to say it.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A shaped cloth diaper with elastic at the legs and waist, worn under a separate waterproof cover.

   He prefers a fitted under a wool cover for overnight use.

   The fitteds from this brand snap closed instead of using pins.

   Note

   Parents who use cloth diapers have a whole vocabulary, and fitted is one of its countable nouns. It usually appears in the plural, ranked alongside flats, prefolds, pocket diapers, and all-in-ones. Alicia Betz (2019) finds fitteds harder to use than pockets. Bailey Bouwman's Cloth Diapers (2021) notes that they too suffer edge wear, the fraying of natural fibers through washing.

7. 7
   verbdialectal

   Simple past of fit. Used more in British English; in this meaning American English usually says fit.

   The new shelf fitted neatly into the alcove.

   His description fitted the suspect exactly.

   Note

   Outside tailoring, fitted as a past tense is a regional habit, and some careful writers object to it. When the meaning is suiting, matching, or having room, the bare form is the safe choice (the key fit the lock; his story fit the facts). Unlike the tailoring past, where fitted draws no objection, here it marks a speaker's region. In edited prose, fit avoids the question altogether.

8. 8
   verbdialectal

   Past participle of fit. Used more in British English; in this meaning American English usually says fit.

   That coat had always fitted her perfectly.

   The lid had fitted the jar snugly until it warped.

   Note

   The regional split described under the past of suiting and matching carries over to perfect tenses. Some speakers say the coat had always fitted her, while others say it had always fit her. Where the -ed form might draw a frown, had fit is the safer choice for size, room, or suitability. Had fitted is best kept for the tailor's deliberate alteration.

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