hatchback
Americannoun
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hatchbacks
plural
noun
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a sloping rear end of a car having a single door that is lifted to open
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( as modifier )
a hatchback model
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a car having such a rear end
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hatchback
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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.
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At Stanley Subaru in Ellsworth, Maine, many customers are choosing hybrid versions of the Forester SUV and Crosstrek hatchback, though they cost a few thousand dollars more than their gas-only counterparts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026
The BYD Dolphin, an all-electric hatchback, starts at less than $14,000 in China.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2026
By the 1990s, its Fiesta hatchback had become such a staple of British streets that Ford was almost considered a local brand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
Take the current VW Golf hatchback, which is 9cm wider and 22cm longer than the version on sale in the mid-1980s.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
“Look what I found,” says Garrett, looking in the rear window of a hatchback.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Nowhere to be found: staid family sedans, cheap hatchbacks or frumpy minivans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
If you’ve been to Europe recently, you’ve seen the increasingly popular Chinese-made BYD hatchbacks and SUVs, often with starting prices below $30,000.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
In the 1970s and 1980s, for example, sales plummeted as stricter safety restrictions made them more expensive to build, while consumer tastes moved towards high-performance hatchbacks.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Why shouldn’t their town square prioritize strolling couples and amateur oil painters and kids tossing softballs over parking meters and hatchbacks?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2025
For years, American drivers have been gravitating toward sport utility vehicles and away from sedans, compacts and hatchbacks.
From New York Times ● May 8, 2024
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.
