stoop

¹ American  

[stoop] / stup /

verb (used without object)

1. to bend the head and shoulders, or the body generally, forward and downward from an erect position.

   to stoop over a desk.

   Synonyms:

   crouch, lean

2. to carry the head and shoulders habitually bowed forward.

   to stoop from age.

3. (of trees, precipices, etc.) to bend, bow, or lean.

4. to descend from one's level of dignity; condescend; deign.

   Don't stoop to argue with him.

5. to swoop down, as a hawk at prey.

6. to submit; yield.

7. Obsolete. to come down from a height.

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verb (used with object)

1. to bend (oneself, one's head, etc.) forward and downward.

2. Archaic. to abase, humble, or subdue.

noun

1. the act or an instance of stooping.

2. a stooping position or carriage of body.

   The elderly man walked with a stoop.

3. a descent from dignity or superiority.

4. a downward swoop, as of a hawk.

stoop ² American  

[stoop] / stup /

noun

1. a small porch or platform at the entrance to a house, or the steps leading up to it.

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stoop ³ American  

[stoop] / stup /

noun

1. stoup.

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stoop ¹ British  

/ stuːp /

verb

1. (also tr) to bend (the body or the top half of the body) forward and downward

2. to carry oneself with head and shoulders habitually bent forward

3. (often foll by to) to abase or degrade oneself

4. (often foll by to) to condescend; deign

5. (of a bird of prey) to swoop down

6. archaic to give in

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noun

1. the act, position, or characteristic of stooping

2. a lowering from a position of dignity or superiority

3. a downward swoop, esp of a bird of prey

stoop ² British  

/ stuːp /

noun

1. a small platform with steps up to it at the entrance to a building

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stoop ³ British  

/ stuːp /

noun

1. archaic a pillar or post

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stoop ⁴ British  

/ stuːp /

noun

1. a less common spelling of stoup

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Related Words

See bend ¹.

Other Word Forms

• nonstooping adjective
• stooper noun
• stooping adjective
• stoopingly adverb
• unstooped adjective
• unstooping adjective

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)”; 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."

Example Sentences

These festive stoop setups are the product of a new seasonal micro-economy: pumpkin entrepreneurs and porch stylists.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 26, 2025

The stoop, likely the site of Hodges’ proposal, was strewn with red roses, candles and framed photographs.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2025

The three women in the painting stoop low in the field, their hands reaching for leftover stalks of wheat.

From Salon • Jan. 28, 2025

It’s the same way I feel about our neighborhoods’ stoop culture, where people leave out unwanted items neatly stacked on their stairs.

From Slate • Jan. 11, 2025

And I knew for sure my mama wasn’t thinking about me as she shuffled around the house in her bathrobe all red eyed and stoop shouldered.

From "Wish" by Barbara O'Connor

Related Words

• crouch
• hunch
• squat