stoop
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
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stooped,
past participle, past
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stooping
present participle
-
to bend the head and shoulders, or the body generally, forward and downward from an erect position.
to stoop over a desk.
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to carry the head and shoulders habitually bowed forward.
to stoop from age.
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(of trees, precipices, etc.) to bend, bow, or lean.
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to descend from one's level of dignity; condescend; deign.
Don't stoop to argue with him.
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to swoop down, as a hawk at prey.
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to submit; yield.
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Obsolete. to come down from a height.
verb (used with object)
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stoops,
present (3rd person singular)
-
stooped,
past participle, past
-
stooping
present participle
-
to bend (oneself, one's head, etc.) forward and downward.
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Archaic. to abase, humble, or subdue.
noun
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the act or an instance of stooping.
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a stooping position or carriage of body.
The elderly man walked with a stoop.
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a descent from dignity or superiority.
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a downward swoop, as of a hawk.
noun
noun
verb
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(also tr) to bend (the body or the top half of the body) forward and downward
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to carry oneself with head and shoulders habitually bent forward
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(often foll by to) to abase or degrade oneself
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(often foll by to) to condescend; deign
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(of a bird of prey) to swoop down
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archaic to give in
noun
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the act, position, or characteristic of stooping
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a lowering from a position of dignity or superiority
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a downward swoop, esp of a bird of prey
noun
noun
noun
Synonym Usage
See bend 1.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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stoopernoun
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nonstoopingadjective
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stoopingadjective
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unstoopedadjective
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unstoopingadjective
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stoopinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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stoopsimple
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stoopssimple
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have stoopedperfect
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has stoopedperfect
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am stoopingprogressive
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are stoopingprogressive
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is stoopingprogressive
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have been stoopingperfect progressive
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has been stoopingperfect progressive
Past
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stoopedsimple
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had stoopedperfect
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was stoopingprogressive
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were stoopingprogressive
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had been stoopingperfect progressive
Future
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)”; see 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."
Vocabulary lists containing stoop
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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:
She posed dirtied, disheveled and apparently desperate in front of a spotless stoop — then hit post on Instagram.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
"I don't like to be like everybody else. I've often made the statement that I would never stoop so low as to be fashionable. That's the easiest thing in the world to do."
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Then I tossed them in a bag and set them at the bottom of the stoop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 8, 2026
Soon they’d been talking for nearly half an hour, standing out in the chill on the man’s stoop.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
They all bid the Millers goodbye and began to separate at the end of the walkway from the front stoop.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Participating artists not only play on porches and front stoops in the Mission District but also in backyards, parklets, storefronts and district venues.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
There was nothing thriving, either, in the Voorstad neighborhood of Deventer, in the Netherlands, where in 2013 two bummed-out middle-aged men were sitting on their stoops, bemoaning the dreariness around them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
When they headed south from Roberta’s apartment on Avenue C around 10, there were two-foot drifts against the side of stoops.
From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2024
Kids race through the spray of a fire hydrant and families barbecue on their front stoops.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
There were many more people on the streets, sitting on the stoops, hanging out, than I was used to.
From "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates" by Wes Moore
Then he disappeared into the nearby stand of trees and stooped down, pretending to relieve himself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Ibrahim Said stooped to head in his first goal for the club before Elliott Watt capitalised on a mistake from Kasper Schmeichel.
From Barron's ● Dec. 30, 2025
The name "chikungunya" comes from the Kimakonde language, meaning "that which bends up," a reference to the stooped posture caused by the severe joint pain that often accompanies the infection.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 10, 2025
I stooped to embrace him and told him what I’d needed to hear as a boy.
From Slate ● Apr. 27, 2025
A little boy dropped a cloth bundle and scampered after it, and I stooped to pick it up at the same time he did.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
About 40% of people in their 60s have some difficulty crouching, kneeling or stooping.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
DNA is a snooty aristocrat, never stooping to engage in day-to-day tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025
Made of white Carrara marble, it depicts the pontiff in his later years, stooping and clutching a crucifix, his brow furrowed in pain.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2025
Maybe stooping over a hot stove for hours to prepare a traditional Christmas dinner doesn’t quite put you in the holiday mood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 24, 2024
The tunnel was high and broad enough to allow them to walk side by side without stooping.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
