stretchmarks

British

/ ˈstrɛtʃˌmɑːks /

plural noun

marks that remain visible on the abdomen after its distension, esp in pregnancy

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Unless she sees the telltale signs of Cushing’s, like stretchmarks on a patient’s thighs and stomach, central obesity, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar, she doesn’t worry that their cortisol is too high.

From Slate • Sep. 9, 2025

"We are real women with curves and cellulite and stretchmarks and fat. And we gotta own that, baby."

From Fox News • Jul. 17, 2021

Cabello went on to embrace her cellulite and stretchmarks in the video.

From Fox News • Jul. 17, 2021

This could also cause injury to the skin, showing up as stretchmarks.

From The Guardian • Jul. 5, 2020

With seven silver stretchmarks from her two-egg twins, born to her by candlelight amid news of a lost war.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023