donned; donning
1
: to put on (an article of clothing)
donned his hat and gloves
2
: to wrap oneself in : take on sense 3a
the donning of new and more tyrannous moralities—
Edward Sapir
Edward Sapir1
: a head (see head entry 1 sense 6a), tutor, or fellow (see fellow sense 5) in a college of Oxford or Cambridge University
she didn't want to be a don's wife and live in Oxford forever—Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
broadly
: a college or university professor
2
[Italian, title of respect, from donno, literally, lord, from Latin dominus]
: a powerful Mafia leader
3
: a Spanish nobleman or gentleman
—used as a title prefixed to the Christian name
4
archaic
: a person of consequence : grandee
the great dons of wit—John Dryden
John Dryden
director of nursing
Examples of don in a Sentence
Verb
He donned his gloves and hat.
she donned her best gown for the ball
Recent Examples on the Web
Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Apr. 2025
The girls don their coverings and start to screech and run through the forest.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 12 Apr. 2025
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Staley doesn’t know what people will see her don next.
—Kristie Rieken, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for don
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
Sivan is not the only star to have worn the T-shirt, with the actor Pedro Pascal recently having donned the top while out celebrating his 50th birthday.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Apr. 2025
The girls don their coverings and start to screech and run through the forest.
—Proma Khosla, IndieWire, 12 Apr. 2025
Noun
Yet so far two major law firms, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP and Paul Weiss have given in to short term greed and paid off the don who lives in the White House and uses our government to extort money solely to enrich and aggrandize himself.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Staley doesn’t know what people will see her don next.
—Kristie Rieken, Chicago Tribune, 27 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for don
Cite this Entry
“Don.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/don. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
don
2 of 2 noun1
: a Spanish nobleman or gentleman
—used as a title
2
: a teacher in a college or university
Geographical Definition
Don
geographical name
river 1224 miles (1969 kilometers) long in Russia in Europe flowing southeast and then southwest into the Sea of Azov
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share