a very brief, close-fitting, two-piece bathing suit for women or girls.
a very brief, close-fitting pair of bathing trunks for men or boys.
Often bikinis. underwear briefs that are fitted low on the hip or below it.
1945–50; < French, apparently named after Bikini
A bikini is a two-piece women's bathing suit. Bikinis are usually skimpy, and a particularly small one inspired a song from 1960 called "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini.” We don't normally associate atomic bomb tests with cute bathing suits, but this one's an exception. The bikini is named after the Pacific atoll of the same name, where an atomic bomb was exploded in 1946. The reason a tiny bathing suit is named after a tiny island isn’t clear. Although a bikini isn't as explosive as a bomb, it is likely to be worn by a bombshell.
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Elizabeth Smart lit up the internet last month after posting a picture of herself in a tiny midnight-blue bikini with a full-body spray tan, blonde hair extensions and a seriously ripped physique.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Turkish swimwear brand Mayovera showcased a collection of burkinis - a mix of the terms "burka" and "bikini" - covering everything except the face, hands and feet.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
I love the story Didion tells of going to Ralphs in a bikini on a 105-degree day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
The Era of No Rules came and went so quickly that Susan Collins couldn’t even make good on the bikini trial balloon.
From Slate ● Sep. 30, 2023
Audrey wore a bikini, Jenna, a sporty black tankini, and I had on an oversize T-shirt over my striped one-piece.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
Hughes pointed to the impact of the United States' 15-megaton Bravo test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954 -- "equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs -- an absolute monstrosity".
From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026
For years, historians followed the bomb’s echoes through the Cold War: Bikini Atoll and nuclear bunkers, Strangelove and SALT, détente and Defcon, Star Wars and saber rattling, to hit a few low points.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Two weeks after Sobhraj's jailbreak, Mr Zende was summoned by his boss – "he remembered that I had caught the Bikini killer once" - and asked to hunt for him again.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
The series’ fourth spinoff movie, “Saving Bikini Bottom: The Sandy Cheeks Movie” — which follows 2021’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run” — premieres Aug. 2 on Netflix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2024
“You mean Brooke Vega of Bikini? Brooke Vega who was on the cover of Spin magazine last month? Here in this very hospital?”
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
But mostly she supports herself in the sport, in part by selling bikinis she designed on the beach in Luquillo, the tiny community on the northeast tip of the island where she lives.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
"We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing such as bikinis," X's safety team said in a statement.
From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026
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.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
On Instagram, where she posts photos of herself in expensive clothes at glamorous weddings and in bikinis on luxurious international vacations, she has more than 20,000 followers.
From Slate ● May 13, 2024
I recognize two bikinis from my favorite shop on Oak Street and feel extremely jealous.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
