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
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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
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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:
"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
One recent 75-degree afternoon, sitting on the front stoop of the rowhouse where she lives with her dad, Burton was rubbing her hands together vigorously, as if it were cold out.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2026
Beetz stars as Asia, a young woman who turns up on the stoop of a high-end Manhattan apartment building, the Virgil, answering an ad for a maid job.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
We occasionally throw stoop parties that draw neighbors and strangers—a “free beer” sign and lawn chairs in our driveway won us new friends.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
"Either that or sit on the stoop for the rest of the night."
From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson
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
On the walk all along Fourth Street, she noticed families sitting on their stoops or porches and generally more people trying to beat the heat outside of their homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
For the architects, the descending bleachers constitute a “reverse stoop,” another monumentalized form, this time of the brownstone stoops that are the front-row seats to Harlem’s street life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
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
Mittelstaedt stoops down and says reproachfully: “And in the trifles never lose sight of the great adventure, Territorial Kantorek!”
From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque
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
But many hip-hop heads were disappointed at how low the rappers had stooped.
From BBC ● Dec. 20, 2024
He sat on the floor, hunched over his arm, shoulders stooped.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
About 40% of people in their 60s have some difficulty crouching, kneeling or stooping.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
His first finish was the easiest goal he is likely to score in his career, stooping close to the goalline to head in after Kepa Arrizabalaga fumbled the ball into his path.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
DNA is a snooty aristocrat, never stooping to engage in day-to-day tasks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 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
He stood under the eaves of the forest, stooping forward, as if he were listening, and peering with wide eyes into the shadows.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
