bikini

¹

[bih-kee-nee]

noun

plural

bikinis 

1. a very brief, close-fitting, two-piece bathing suit for women or girls.

2. a very brief, close-fitting pair of bathing trunks for men or boys.

3. Often bikinis. underwear briefs that are fitted low on the hip or below it.

Bikini

²

[bih-kee-nee]

noun

1. an atoll in the N Pacific, in the Marshall Islands: atomic bomb tests 1946. 3 sq. mi. (8 sq. km).

Bikini

¹

/ bɪˈkiːnɪ /

noun

1. an atoll in the N Pacific; one of the Marshall Islands: site of a US atomic-bomb test in 1946

bikini

²

/ bɪˈkiːnɪ /

noun

1. a woman's very brief two-piece swimming costume

Word History and Origins

Origin of bikini¹

1945–50; < French, apparently named after Bikini

Word History and Origins

Origin of bikini¹

C20: after Bikini atoll, from a comparison between the devastating effect of the atomic-bomb test and the effect caused by women wearing bikinis

Example Sentences

But while majority of contestants wore two piece bikinis for the 2025 contest, those from conservative countries were allowed to wear full-body covering in the swimsuit round.

Read more on BBC

The pharmacy worker was found wearing a bikini, with all her other clothes and most of her possessions missing.

Read more on BBC

In an email to New York Times journalist Landon Thomas, Epstein asks if they would “like photos of donald and girls in bikinis in my kitchen.”

Read more on Salon

"People only see my appearance and my bikini. But behind this appearance, there are years of suffering, effort and perseverance. These successes have not come easily."

Read more on BBC

I’m standing on a Connecticut beach in a bikini at 6:25 a.m. on a November morning.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bra 
• corset 
• lingerie 
• shorts 
• undergarment 
• underpants 
• undershirt