hoop skirt
Americannoun
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a woman's skirt made to stand out and drape in a stiff bell-like shape from the waist by an undergarment framework of flexible hoops connected by tapes.
-
the framework for such a skirt.
Etymology
Origin of hoop skirt
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
Her latest role as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” presented a different challenge: screaming and running across a stage in a hoop skirt.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
“I’m wearing a hoop skirt, so I can’t do that much. Sitting down was a nightmare.”
From New York Times • Jun. 12, 2023
Her dress and gloves were laid out on the bed; a hoop skirt was nearby.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2022
Livingwater also got a hoop skirt to go under the dress, just like Cooke wore her dress 50 years before, which helped show off the detailing and bows on the ballgown.
From Fox News • Nov. 30, 2021
On class picture day I chose my fanciest dress with a hoop skirt.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
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.
