uniformed

IPA/ˈjuːnɪfɔːmd/
KK[jˈunəfˌɔrmd]IPA/ˈjuːnɪfɔːrmd/

uniformed — adjective

  • uniformedpositive
  • more uniformedcomparative
  • most uniformedsuperlative

1. dressed in the special outfit that identifies someone as a member of a particula

1.adjectiveA2
Definition

dressed in the special outfit that identifies someone as a member of a particular profession, organization, or group

Example

A uniformed police officer stood at the entrance to the train station.

uniformed + [job title] (attributive)

Two uniformed security guards patrol the museum every hour.

uniformed + [role] (attributive)

Common collocations
  • uniformed officer
  • uniformed guard
  • uniformed staff
  • uniformed police
  • uniformed soldier
  • uniformed personnel
  • uniformed member
  • uniformed employee
Synonyms
  • dressed in uniform

    more verbose and typically used predicatively ('The guards were dressed in uniform.')

  • in uniform

    common in predicative position ('The soldiers were in uniform.'); less natural attributively

Antonyms
  • civilian

    describes a person who is not a member of the military or police and does not wear a uniform

  • plain-clothes

    describes police officers wearing ordinary clothes rather than a uniform

Grammar Patterns

uniformed + noun (person's role/profession)

be + uniformed

Usage Note

This adjective is most commonly used attributively before a noun that names a person's job or role (e.g. uniformed officer, uniformed guard). When used predicatively, it is often followed by a phrase describing the specific clothing, as in 'uniformed in white shirts'. Compare with the adjective 'civilian', which describes people not in uniform.

Common Mistakes

A uniformed man stood outside.
A uniformed police officer stood outside.
'uniformed' is clearest when the noun names the person's profession, because the word alone does not tell the reader what kind of uniform is being worn.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

'Uniformed' is an adjective used both attributively ('a uniformed officer') and predicatively ('the staff are uniformed'). 'In uniform' functions as a prepositional phrase and is almost always used predicatively ('The soldiers were in uniform'), though it can appear after a noun ('officers in uniform'). 'In uniform' sounds more natural after the verb 'be' and is slightly more informal than 'uniformed' in attributive position. 'Civilian' is the most common antonym and describes people who do not belong to the military or police — for example, 'The car carried both uniformed soldiers and civilian passengers.' A learner writing 'There were many uniformed at the event' should correct this to 'There were many people in uniform at the event' because 'uniformed' without a noun sounds unnatural.

uniformed ↗in uniformcivilian ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • uniformed officer
  • uniformed guard
  • uniformed staff
  • uniformed police
  • uniformed personnel
  • uniformed soldier
  • uniformed employee
  • uniformed worker
  • uniformed attendant
  • uniformed member

Adverbs

  • fully uniformed
  • smartly uniformed
  • properly uniformed
  • partially uniformed

Prepositions

  • uniformed in [colour/type]
  • uniformed in [clothing description]

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Formed from the noun 'uniform' (from Latin 'uniformis', from 'unus' meaning 'one' and 'forma' meaning 'shape' or 'form') plus the suffix '-ed', which turns nouns into adjectives meaning 'wearing' or 'having'. So 'uniformed' literally means 'having a uniform'. The word dates back to the mid-19th century, when modern police and military forces began issuing standardised outfits to their members.