top hat
noun
a tall, cylindrical hat with a stiff brim usually slightly curved on the sides, worn by men especially on formal occasions.
top hat
1 Americannoun
-
top hats
plural
top-hat
2
American
[top-hat]
/ ˈtɒpˈhæt /
adjective
top hat
British
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of top hat1
First recorded in 1800–10
Origin of top-hat2
First recorded in 1890–95; adj. use of top hat
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:
Reyes found him standing in his living room, wearing his signature top hat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
It’s all just bravado and illusion in a show where the magician has no bunnies left to pull from his top hat.
From Salon ● May 28, 2026
A commercial artist added the top hat, monocle and cane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025
She donned a custom Marc Jacobs suit that was complete with a giant, hot pink bow at the back, a matching top hat and some unique bling.
From BBC ● May 5, 2025
Cats with stripes, cats with three eyes, a cat wearing a top hat.
From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden
Some were dressed up as the moustachioed, top-hat wearing mascot of the board game Monopoly.
From Reuters ● Sep. 30, 2023
In details like Art’s harlequin jumper and tiny top-hat fascinator — and in the gruesome nondigital makeup effects Leone crafted himself — what moviegoers are buying is homemade filmmaking.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2022
The top-hat wearing members of Phil’s “inner circle” take part in the elaborate ceremony every year in which they read a prediction that had already been made in advance.
From Slate ● Feb. 2, 2020
“A bronzed, lank man! His suit of ancient black,//A famous high top-hat and plain worn shawl//Make him the quaint great figure that men love,//The prairie-lawyer, master of us all.”
From Fox News ● Feb. 13, 2019
The top-hat man glanced around, and Lyra set off toward the theater crowd.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
