stoop
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
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stooped,
past participle, past
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stooping
present participle
-
to bend the head and shoulders, or the body generally, forward and downward from an erect position.
to stoop over a desk.
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to carry the head and shoulders habitually bowed forward.
to stoop from age.
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(of trees, precipices, etc.) to bend, bow, or lean.
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to descend from one's level of dignity; condescend; deign.
Don't stoop to argue with him.
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to swoop down, as a hawk at prey.
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to submit; yield.
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Obsolete. to come down from a height.
verb (used with object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stooped,
past participle, past
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stooping
present participle
-
to bend (oneself, one's head, etc.) forward and downward.
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Archaic. to abase, humble, or subdue.
noun
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the act or an instance of stooping.
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a stooping position or carriage of body.
The elderly man walked with a stoop.
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a descent from dignity or superiority.
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a downward swoop, as of a hawk.
noun
noun
verb
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(also tr) to bend (the body or the top half of the body) forward and downward
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to carry oneself with head and shoulders habitually bent forward
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(often foll by to) to abase or degrade oneself
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(often foll by to) to condescend; deign
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(of a bird of prey) to swoop down
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archaic to give in
noun
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the act, position, or characteristic of stooping
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a lowering from a position of dignity or superiority
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a downward swoop, esp of a bird of prey
noun
noun
noun
Synonym Usage
See bend 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stoopernoun
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nonstoopingadjective
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stoopingadjective
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unstoopedadjective
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unstoopingadjective
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stoopinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stoopsimple
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stoopssimple
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have stoopedperfect
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has stoopedperfect
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am stoopingprogressive
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are stoopingprogressive
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is stoopingprogressive
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have been stoopingperfect progressive
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has been stoopingperfect progressive
Past
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stoopedsimple
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had stoopedperfect
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was stoopingprogressive
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were stoopingprogressive
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had been stoopingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of stoop1
First recorded before 900; Middle English verb stoupen, stupen, Old English stūpian; cognate with Middle Dutch stūpen “to bend, bow”; akin to steep 1
Origin of stoop2
An Americanism dating back to 1670–80; from Dutch stoep; cognate with Middle Low German stōpe, German Stufe “step (in a stair)”; see step
Explanation
Stoop means to lean your head and torso forward and down. If you're six feet tall and you tour a historical building, you'll have to stoop to get through the low doorways. Stoop comes from the same root as steep. You can stoop to clear a doorway, or stoop metaphorically, by lowering your morals. If you slouch and droop, you are stooping. When owls quickly descend on their prey, that's also called stooping. Last but not least, a stoop refers to a small porch or the stairs leading up to a front entrance of a house, but that meaning is from the Dutch word stoep, "flight of steps, doorstep, or threshold."
Vocabulary lists containing stoop
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I don't like to be like everybody else. I've often made the statement that I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable. That's the easiest thing in the world to do."
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
We occasionally throw stoop parties that draw neighbors and strangers—a “free beer” sign and lawn chairs in our driveway won us new friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
Although it may seem naïve, on the surface, to stoop to such mundanity — a variation on our era’s “go outside and touch grass” naturalism — Styles may be genuinely onto something.
From Salon ● Mar. 6, 2026
Soon they’d been talking for nearly half an hour, standing out in the chill on the man’s stoop.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
I waited on the stoop for Sookie to arrive.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
For the architects, the descending bleachers constitute a “reverse stoop,” another monumentalized form, this time of the brownstone stoops that are the front-row seats to Harlem’s street life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
When they headed south from Roberta’s apartment on Avenue C around 10, there were two-foot drifts against the side of stoops.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
There are a disturbing number of videos showing an easy way to create concrete walkways, sidewalks and door stoops.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
She stoops to pluck weeds around delicate yellow flowers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
It was a wide, tree-shaded avenue and the houses were rich and impressively built of large granite blocks with long stone stoops.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Theirry Henry scored twice after Ruud van Nistelrooy's opener, but Ryan Giggs, top to tail in blue, stooped to make it 2-2 in a classic under the lights.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Ibrahim Said stooped to head in his first goal for the club before Elliott Watt capitalised on a mistake from Kasper Schmeichel.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
The name "chikungunya" comes from the Kimakonde language, meaning "that which bends up," a reference to the stooped posture caused by the severe joint pain that often accompanies the infection.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2025
I stooped to embrace him and told him what I’d needed to hear as a boy.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2025
She tried to avoid looking at her grandmother’s stooped back.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
DNA is a snooty aristocrat, never stooping to engage in day-to-day tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
There was no back-breaking stooping: Trimmers sat on benches.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2025
“We’re fortunate to live in New York, where stooping is a thing,” Slocum said.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
Her single-minded dedication carried into her early years at Lake Taylor High School in Norfolk, where she often found herself stooping to fit in with other girls because of her height.
From New York Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
He worked alone, stooping with a paintbrush and forceps to snip and dust the flowers.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
