hip
noun
the projecting part of each side of the body formed by the side of the pelvis and the upper part of the femur and the flesh covering them; haunch.
hip
1 American
[hip]
/ hɪp /
noun
-
the projecting part of each side of the body formed by the side of the pelvis and the upper part of the femur and the flesh covering them; haunch.
-
Architecture. the inclined projecting angle formed by the junction of a sloping side and a sloping end, or of two adjacent sloping sides, of a roof.
-
Furniture. knee.
adjective
-
hipper,
comparative
-
hippest
superlative
verb (used with object)
hipped,
hipping
-
(especially of livestock) to injure or dislocate the hip of.
-
Architecture. to form (a roof ) with a hip or hips.
idioms
-
shoot from the hip, to speak or act bluntly or rashly, without deliberation or prudence.
Diplomats are trained to conduct themselves with discretion, and not to shoot from the hip.
-
smite hip and thigh, to attack unmercifully; overcome.
hip
2
American
[hip]
/ hɪp /
noun
hip
3
American
[hip]
/ hɪp /
interjection
hip
4
American
[hip]
/ hɪp /
adjective
-
hipper,
comparative
-
hippest
superlative
-
familiar with or informed about the latest ideas, styles, developments, etc..
My parents aren't exactly hip, you know.
-
considered aware of or attuned to what is expected, especially with a casual or knowing air; cool.
The guy was not at all hip—a total nerd.
-
in agreement or willing to cooperate; going along.
We explained our whole plan, and she was hip.
noun
-
Also hipness the condition or state of being hip.
-
a hippie or beatnik; hipster.
verb (used with object)
hipped,
hipping
HIP
5
American
[eych-ahy-pee, hip]
/ ˈeɪtʃˈaɪˈpi, hɪp /
hip
1
British
/ hɪp /
noun
-
(often plural) either side of the body below the waist and above the thigh, overlying the lateral part of the pelvis and its articulation with the thighbones
-
another name for pelvis
-
short for hip joint
-
the angle formed where two sloping sides of a roof meet or where a sloping side meets a sloping end
hip
2
British
/ hɪp /
adjective
-
aware of or following the latest trends in music, ideas, fashion, etc
-
informed (about)
HIP
3
British
/ hɪp /
acronym
hip
4
British
/ hɪp /
noun
hip
5
British
/ hɪp /
interjection
hip
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of hip1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English hipe, hupe, Old English hype; cognate with Old High German huf ( German Hüfte “hip”), Gothic hups “hip, loin”; compare Greek kýbos “cube, die; the hollow above the hips (of cattle),” Latin cubitus “elbow” ( see cubit); see also cube 1
Origin of hip2
First recorded before 900; Middle English hepe, Old English hēope “hip, briar”; cognate with Old High German hiufo “bramble”
Origin of hip3
First recorded in 1745–55; origin uncertain
Origin of hip4
An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; of uncertain origin; hep and hip are recorded at similar dates and are similar in meaning, but the relationship between the two words is unclear
Explanation
Your hip is the area of your body at the top and side of your thigh, beside your pelvis. You might have a habit of closing the refrigerator door by bumping it with your hip. Your hips are the flesh between your waist and upper leg, and they're also the bones that make up the complex joints there — the ones that make it possible for your legs to move so you can walk. When a person is described as hip, it means they're trendy or cool, up on the latest thing. These two meanings are unrelated, with the "cool" meaning coming from the slang hep, popular with jazz musicians around 1915.
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:
Specifically to my spine, right hip and my ribs.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
In the film, Early plays Maddie Ralph, an aspiring test-kitchen chef at a hip food publication.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Yet he still must fight to obtain the hip replacement surgery he so desperately needs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
"Exercise is recommended as a primary treatment for hip osteoarthritis, and this review doesn't overturn that," said Michelle Hall, co-lead author from the University of Sydney.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Tansy walked over to the picture of Theodore Roosevelt, with Little Britches hitched up on her hip.
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
The second object, HIP 71618 B, is a brown dwarf with a mass about 60 times that of Jupiter.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2025
HIP 67522 is a perfect reference for astronomers to study how magnetic interactions impact the way planets evolve.
From Space Scoop ● Jul. 17, 2025
Historically informed performance, or HIP, is a loaded term, and “Swan Lake” is a loaded ballet.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2025
Fans online noticed that the first letter of each sentence of Noelia's resignation statement spelled out "I AM SILENCED" - though the final three sentences spelled "HIP".
From BBC ● May 9, 2024
HIP A popular location for the retail liquor business.
From The Foolish Dictionary An exhausting work of reference to un-certain English words, their origin, meaning, legitimate and illegitimate use, confused by a few pictures [not included] by Gideon Wurdz
But it was up against other, hipper shows like The Word, and a balding, middle-aged, middle-class man being risqué suddenly seemed less cutting-edge.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2025
“It was a little more diverse and hipper, so they were probably getting some pushback from older readers.”
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2024
Drone shows are in some ways the newer, hipper brand of fireworks.
From New York Times ● Jul. 1, 2023
But the mall’s 50 or so tenants, many of whom are Chinese or Taiwanese American and have operated there for years, fear that they will be displaced in favor of hipper, upscale businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2022
“It’s in Salem, which is apparently getting hipper by the moment.”
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Even if I could try my hand at the hippest startups, I’ve decided that this summer I would try to understand how local economies perform, focusing on the small businesses that help sustain communities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 2026
Instantly recognisable by their electric blue shop fronts, branches of LAP Coffee have become a common sight in Berlin's hippest neighbourhoods over the past two years.
From Barron's ● Nov. 16, 2025
Don't laugh at me — remember, I was 16, Instagram wasn't out, and there were no micro-food bloggers schooling to me to hippest and fanciest spots.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2023
“When it’s more scalable, hydrogen will be the hippest thing to drive.”
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 24, 2022
Jazz strains leak from behind the doors of the hippest clubs.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
Luckily, other people in his life hipped him to cool bands.
From Salon ● Nov. 26, 2022
The photographs showed fire within the house, just behind an entrance portico that includes rectangular brick or stone columns supporting a hipped roof.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 22, 2021
Valley Village came out of a rib of North Hollywood, which hipped itself up as NoHo, but was born as Lankershim, for an early Valley wheat grower whose son-in-law was named Van Nuys.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2021
When she told him, he burst out laughing, and then hipped her to the store’s true content.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 22, 2020
Gambrel, gam′brel, n. the hock of a horse: a crooked stick used by butchers for suspending a carcass while dressing it.—Gambrel roof, a curved or hipped roof.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
Like many in the space, Herstand credits the long-running New York production “Sleep No More” with hipping him to the scene.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
Of course, they saw it as the birth of Woodstock Nation, a giant step toward the hipping of the world at large.
From Time Magazine Archive
Fred tore out a sheet and did some mysterious figuring, afterwards crumpling the paper into a little wad and hipping it behind the bed.
From The Flying U's Last Stand by B. M. Bower
With one hand hipping his saber and the other curling his mustaches, he smiled at her.
From The Lure of the Mask by Harrison Fisher
When the hipping season began with our customers at The Grove, trade became active with us at Wichita.
From Reed Anthony, Cowman by Andy Adams
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.
