pantyhose
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of pantyhose
First recorded in 1960–65
Explanation
Pantyhose are sheer tights, a garment that snugly covers your legs. It was once very common for certain jobs to require women to wear pantyhose. You might call pantyhose tights or stockings — this word is uncommon outside of the US, and it's typically used for a particularly thin, sheer hosiery with built-in underwear. Pantyhose were invented in the 1960s, replacing old fashioned knee-high stockings that were held in place with garters. The name pantyhose is a combination of panty, undergarment or underwear, and hose, which is short for hosiery.
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.
Worse, I was wearing a dress and thin pantyhose.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026
Air Force veteran Reality Winner smuggled out a classified report on Russian election hacking by tucking it in her pantyhose.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2025
Nengudi asked Hassinger if she would perform with some sculptures Nengudi had made out of pantyhose; Hassinger said yes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
Mr. Lynch, now 78, famously invested in Hanes because he saw his wife buying the company’s L’eggs pantyhose at the supermarket.
From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2022
I already have black pantyhose and my black combat boots.
From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles
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.
