cut out of whole cloth
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Entirely false. Suggested probably by the mendacious claims of tailors' advertisements.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “cut out of whole cloth” mean?
Entirely false. Suggested probably by the mendacious claims of tailors' advertisements.
Is “cut out of whole cloth” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.