dowager's hump

American  

noun

1. a type of kyphosis, common in older women, in which the shoulders become rounded and the upper back develops a hump: caused by osteoporosis resulting in skeletal deformity.

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Example Sentences

A dowager’s hump, bright red hair streaked with white and a perma-snarl completed the character.

From New York Times • Aug. 9, 2022

She must not have been looking at my dowager’s hump.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2014

The dowager with her dowager’s hump: the old lady’s version of bad posture.

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2014

Indeed the bones of the spine can become so papery that they collapse; five vertebrae may fill the space normally occupied by three, causing a protuberance known as "dowager's hump."

From Time Magazine Archive

She is hunched over, her dowager’s hump forcing her to face her lap.

From "Water for Elephants" by Sara Gruen