homburg

IPA/ˈhɒmbɜːɡ/
KK[hˈɑmbɚɡ]IPA/ˈhɑːmbɜːrɡ/

homburg — noun

  • homburgsingular
  • homburgsplural

1. a man's hat made from soft felt, designed for formal wear, whose brim curls up e

1.nounB2
Definition

a man's hat made from soft felt, designed for formal wear, whose brim curls up evenly at both sides and whose crown has a single crease from front to back

Example

Theo wore a grey homburg and a long overcoat to his sister's winter wedding.

collocation: grey homburg + worn with formal clothes

At a vintage market in Berlin, Mei found an old black homburg from the 1950s.

Common collocations
  • felt homburg
  • black homburg
  • grey homburg
  • brown homburg
  • homburg hat
  • crease the crown of a homburg
  • adjust one's homburg
Synonyms
  • fedora

    fedora has a wider brim that is pinched on both front sides of the crown, while the homburg's brim curls upward evenly and the crown has a single lengthwise crease

  • trilby

    trilby has a much shorter brim that angles down at the front and up at the back, unlike the homburg's even side curl

Usage Note

Now considered old-fashioned or retro; associated with formal or semi-formal men's attire from the 1920s–1960s. Less common than fedora or trilby in modern everyday wear.

Common Mistakes

He wore a homburg to the baseball game.
He wore a homburg to the formal banquet.
The homburg is a formal hat, not suitable for casual or sporting events.
She adjusted her homburg before the photo.
He adjusted his homburg before the photo.
Homburgs have historically been associated with men's fashion (though women may wear them too in modern vintage style).

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four are formal men's hats but differ in shape and level of formality. The fedora has a wider brim that is pinched on both sides of the crown near the front, and it ranges from casual to formal depending on the material. The trilby has a much shorter brim that angles down at the front and up at the back, making it a lighter, less formal option than the homburg. The bowler (or derby) has a rounded, hard crown with a tight brim curled up at the edges, and was a standard business hat in the early 1900s. The top hat is the most formal — tall, flat-brimmed, and straight-crowned, worn with white-tie evening dress. The homburg sits between the fedora and the top hat in formality: its curled brim and single lengthwise crown crease give it a dignified but not stiff look, suitable for church, court, or formal daytime events.

fedora ↗trilby ↗bowler hattop hat

Common collocations

Nouns

  • homburg hat
  • homburg brim
  • homburg crown
  • homburg crease

Phrases

  • tip one's homburg
  • doff one's homburg

Prepositions

  • in a homburg
  • with a homburg

Etymology

GermanEnglish

Named after the German town of Homburg (modern-day Bad Homburg vor der Höhe), where the hat was first made in the early 20th century. The style became widely popular after King Edward VII of Britain visited the town and adopted the hat for formal wear.