hoop skirt
Americannoun
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a woman's skirt made to stand out and drape in a stiff bell-like shape from the waist by an undergarment framework of flexible hoops connected by tapes.
-
the framework for such a skirt.
Etymology
Origin of hoop skirt
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
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.
Her latest role as Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” presented a different challenge: screaming and running across a stage in a hoop skirt.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Sikander said that sculpture wore a hoop skirt inspired by the stained-glass dome of the courthouse, symbolizing the need to “break the legal glass ceiling.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 25, 2023
She scoured the Internet for dresses that suggested the Regency era, spending about $200 on a bright blue ballgown reminiscent of Cinderella’s in the Disney animated movie and a hoop skirt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2022
Livingwater also got a hoop skirt to go under the dress, just like Cooke wore her dress 50 years before, which helped show off the detailing and bows on the ballgown.
From Fox News ● Nov. 30, 2021
Her gown had a low-cut bodice of pink silk and a three-tiered hoop skirt with white scalloped lace.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
