Meanings
hip1
plural hips
- datedpossiblyslangA drug addict, especially someone addicted to a narcotic like heroin.
Ike explained to me that the Mexican government issued permits to hips allowing them a definite quantity of morphine per month at wholesale prices.
1953, William Lee [pseudonym; William S. Burroughs], Junkie, New York: Ace Books
present singular third person hips · participle present hipping · participle past hipped · past hipped
- hobbiesTo use one's hips to bump into someone.
- governmentTo throw (one's adversary) over one's hip ("cross-buttock").
- To dislocate or sprain the hip of, to fracture or injure the hip bone of (a quadruped) in such a manner as to produce a permanent depression of that side.
- To make with a hip or hips, as a roof.
hip2
plural hips
- The fruit of a rose.
The oaks bear mast, the briars scarlet hips; The bounteous housewife, Nature, on each bush Lays her full mess before you.
c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii]1 more example
1. BROTHER. […] What doo you gather there? OLD MAN. Hips and Hawes, and stickes and strawes, and thinges that I gather on the ground my sonne.
c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC, [line 175-178]Synonyms: rosehip
hip3
comparative hipper · superlative hippest
- datedslangAware, informed, up-to-date, trendy.First known use early 20th c., popularized in 1960s
“Saturday Night” has an explicitly hip, cynical outlook, coupled with an impressive amount of freedom.
1975 October 27, Jeff Greenfield, “Ragged but Funny”, in New York, volume 8, number 43, page 654 more examples
I am also starting a folk-entourage school where you can go into gladitorial training to hang out in hip crowds with budding young folk stars.
1965 December, Phil Ochs, “That Was The Year That Weren't”, in CavalierEverybody's saying that / Hell's the hippest way to go / Well, I don't think so / But I'm gonna take a look around it, though
1971, Joni Mitchell, “Blue”, in BlueOne of the saints in my life is this woman named Imogene Hill, who was a fourth-grade teacher who taught this advanced class. She got hip to my whole situation in about a month and kindled a passion in me for learning things.
1985 February, David Sheff, “Playboy Interview: Steve Jobs”, in Playboy, archived from the original on 19 Mar 2019Rudolph promoted Stevens Pass with restless zeal. In seven years there, he helped turn a relatively small, roadside ski area into a hip destination.
2012 December 26, John Branch, “Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Nov 2013
present singular third person hips · participle present hipping · participle past hipped · past hipped
- slangtransitiveTo inform, to make knowledgeable.
The guy hips himself to so many things.
2009, Sean Rogers, Pynchon and comics4 more examples
No doubt, too, Sand must have hipped him quietly in a whisper somewhere what was happening with the lover
1958, Jack Kerouac, The Subterraneans, page 90She's a volunteer, hipped on civil rights, another do-gooder, evidently with a private pile since she takes no pay
1964, Rex Stout, A Right to Die, page 78She went ape over Chris. She'd go downtown and come home with shopping bags loaded with fine dresses and underclothes for herself and her sisters. Later she hipped Chris to boosting
1969, Iceberg Slim, Pimp, page 223A friend just hipped me to your rag and its ^([sic]) been a totally beautiful experience! Presently I'm imprisoned at the California Institute for Women and would like to receive my own issues of GCN.
1983 August 20, Mary Frances Gonzales, “Come Together”, in Gay Community News, volume 11, number 6, page 5
hip4
- An exclamation to invoke a united cheer: hip hip hooray.
Synonyms: hip hip
HIP5
plural HIPs
- UKabbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of Home Information Pack.
- abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablelifestyleAcronym of Higher Intermediate Point.
- abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableentertainmentAcronym of historically informed performance.
- abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of hot isostatic pressing
Hip6
- A diminutive of the female given name Hippolyta.
- A surname.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe fruit of a rose.
interjectionAn exclamation to invoke a united cheer: hip hip hooray.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe structure of the vertebrate skeleton supporting the lower limbs in humans and the hind limbs or corresponding parts in other vertebrates
nounthe ball-and-socket joint between the head of the femur and the acetabulum
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
hip · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱewb-
- Proto-Germanic*hupiz
- Old Englishhype
- Middle Englishhipe
- Englishhip
From Middle English hipe, hupe, from Old English hype, from Proto-Germanic *hupiz (compare Dutch heup, Low German Huop, German Hüfte), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (compare Welsh cysgu (“to sleep”), Latin cubāre (“to lie”), Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos, “hollow in the hips”), Albanian sup (“shoulder”), Sanskrit शुप्ति (śúpti, “shoulder”)), from *ḱew- (“to bend”). More at high. The sense "drug addict" derives from addicts lying on their hips while using certain drugs such as opium.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →hip · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*ḱewb-“briar, thorn”
- Proto-Germanic*heupǭ
- Old Englishhēope
- Middle Englishhepe
- Englishhip
From Middle English hepe, heppe, hipe, from Old English hēope, from Proto-Germanic *heupǭ (compare Dutch joop, German Hiefe, Faroese hjúpa), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewb- (“briar, thorn”) (compare Old Prussian kaāubri (“thorn”), Lithuanian kaubrė̃ (“heap”)).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →hip · adjective, verb
- Wolofhepi“to see”
- Englishhip
Unknown or disputed. Probably a variant of hep; both forms are attested from the first decade of the 20th century. Some sources suggest derivation from Wolof hepi (“to see”) or hipi (“to open one’s eyes”). Others suggest connection to the noun, as opium smokers were said to lie on a hip. Neither of these suggestions is widely accepted, however.
More words from Wolof
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans heup
- heupjoint
Ancient Greek ἰσχίον
- ἰσχίον (iskhíon)joint
Arabic وَرِك
- وَرِك (warik)joint
Basque aldaka
- aldakajoint
Bulgarian бедро́, тазобедрена става
- бедро́ (bedró)joint
- тазобедрена става (tazobedrena stava)joint
- шипка (šipka)the fruit of a rose
- осведомен (osvedomen)aware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- информиран (informiran)aware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
Catalan maluc
- malucjoint
Chinese Mandarin 髖 /髋
- 髖 /髋 (kuān)joint
Czech kyčel, šípek
- kyčeljoint
- šípekthe fruit of a rose
Danish hofte, hyben
- hoftejoint
- hybenthe fruit of a rose
Dari خاصره
- خاصره (xâsera)joint
Dutch heup, rozenbottel
- heupjoint
- rozenbottelthe fruit of a rose
Esperanto kokso, rozbero
- koksojoint
- rozberothe fruit of a rose
- rozfruktothe fruit of a rose
Finnish lonkka, lanne
- lonkkajoint
- lannejoint
- ruusunmarjathe fruit of a rose
- kiulukkathe fruit of a rose
- trendikäsaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
French hanche, cynorrhodon
- hanchejoint
- cynorrhodonthe fruit of a rose
- branchéaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
German Hüfte, Hagebutte
- Hüftejoint
- Hagebuttethe fruit of a rose
- hipaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
Greek ισχίο
- ισχίο (ischío)joint
Hebrew יָרֵךְ
- יָרֵךְ (yarekh)joint
Hindi कूल्हा
- कूल्हा (kūlhā)joint
Hungarian csípő, csipkebogyó
- csípőjoint
- csipkebogyóthe fruit of a rose
- menőaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- vagányaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- naprakészaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- jól értesültaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- jól informáltaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
- tájékozottaware, informed, up-to-date, trendy
Icelandic mjöðm
- mjöðmjoint
Indonesian pinggang, pinggul
- pinggangjoint
- pingguljoint
Irish alt an chromáin, cromán
- alt an chromáinjoint
- crománjoint
- corrógjoint
- mogóirthe fruit of a rose
Italian anca
- ancajoint
Japanese 腰
- 腰 (koshi)joint
Korean 허리
- 허리 (heori)joint
Latin coxa
- coxajoint
Latvian gurns
- gurnsjoint
Malay pinggul, koksa
- pingguljoint
- koksajoint
Norwegian Bokmål hofte, mjødm
- hoftejoint
- mjødmjoint
- nypethe fruit of a rose
Persian کفل, خفچه
- کفل (kafal)joint
- خفچه (xofče)the fruit of a rose
Polish biodro, owoc dzikiej róży
- biodrojoint
- owoc dzikiej różythe fruit of a rose
Portuguese quadril, anca
- quadriljoint
- ancajoint
- cinórrodothe fruit of a rose
Romanian șold
- șoldjoint
Russian бедро́
- бедро́ (bedró)joint
Slovak bedro, šípka
- bedrojoint
- šípkathe fruit of a rose
Spanish cadera, anca
- caderajoint
- ancajoint
- cuadriljoint
- rengaderojoint
- escaramujothe fruit of a rose
Swahili unyonga, nyonga
- unyongajoint
- nyongajoint
Swedish höft, nypon
- höftjoint
- nyponthe fruit of a rose
Tagalog balakang, bugnit
- balakangjoint
- bugnitjoint
Thai สะโพก
- สะโพก (sà-pôok)joint
Turkish kalça
- kalçajoint
Ukrainian ку́льша, бедро́
- ку́льша (kúlʹša)joint
- бедро́ (bedró)joint
Vietnamese hông
- hôngjoint
Welsh clun, egroes
- clunjoint
- egroesthe fruit of a rose
Yiddish לענדן
- לענדן (lendn)joint
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hip
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
hip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip
“hip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hip,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip.
Source: hip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.