hip

H4I1P3
/hɪp/

noun

The outward-projecting parts of the pelvis and top of the femur and the overlying tissue.

Very commonFirst used early 20th c., popularized in 1960sScrabble 8

Meanings

hip1

nounhip (plural hips)

plural hips

  1. anatomyThe outward-projecting parts of the pelvis and top of the femur and the overlying tissue.
  2. The inclined external angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
  3. In a bridge truss, the place where an inclined end post meets the top chord.

    in all bridges preference will be given to designs having struts for hip verticals

    1887, John Alexander Low Waddell, General Specifications for Highway Bridges of Iron and Steel
  4. 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
verbhip (third-person singular simple present hips, present participle hipping, simple past and past participle hipped)

present singular third person hips · participle present hipping · participle past hipped · past hipped

  1. hobbiesTo use one's hips to bump into someone.
  2. governmentTo throw (one's adversary) over one's hip ("cross-buttock").
  3. 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.
  4. To make with a hip or hips, as a roof.

hip2

nounhip (plural hips)

plural hips

  1. 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

adjectivehip (comparative hipper, superlative hippest)

comparative hipper · superlative hippest

  1. 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 65
    4 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 Cavalier

    Everybody'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 Blue

    One 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 2019

    Rudolph 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

    Synonyms: cool, groovy

verbhip (third-person singular simple present hips, present participle hipping, simple past and past participle hipped)

present singular third person hips · participle present hipping · participle past hipped · past hipped

  1. slangtransitiveTo inform, to make knowledgeable.

    The guy hips himself to so many things.

    2009, Sean Rogers, Pynchon and comics
    4 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 90

    She'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 78

    She 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 223

    A 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

interjection
  1. An exclamation to invoke a united cheer: hip hip hooray.

    Synonyms: hip hip

HIP5

nounHIP (countable and uncountable, plural HIPs)

plural HIPs

  1. UKabbreviationacronymcountableuncountableAcronym of Home Information Pack.
  2. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountablelifestyleAcronym of Higher Intermediate Point.
  3. abbreviationacronymcountableuncountableentertainmentAcronym of historically informed performance.
  4. abbreviationcountableinitialismuncountableInitialism of hot isostatic pressing

Hip6

proper noun

Synonyms & antonyms

nounThe fruit of a rose.

Similar

adjectiveAware, informed, up-to-date, trendy.

Similar

interjectionAn exclamation to invoke a united cheer: hip hip hooray.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveinformed about the latest trends

Similar

nounthe structure of the vertebrate skeleton supporting the lower limbs in humans and the hind limbs or corresponding parts in other vertebrates

Broader

nounthe ball-and-socket joint between the head of the femur and the acetabulum

Similar
hip jointcoxaarticulatio coxae
Broader
ball-and-socket jointspheroid jointcotyloid joint

nounthe fruit of a rose plant

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

hip · noun, verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱewb-
  2. Proto-Germanic*hupiz
  3. Old Englishhype
  4. Middle Englishhipe
  5. 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.

Full word history & related roots →

hip · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ḱewb-“briar, thorn”
  2. Proto-Germanic*heupǭ
  3. Old Englishhēope
  4. Middle Englishhepe
  5. 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”)).

Full word history & related roots →

hip · adjective, verb

  1. Wolofhepi“to see”
  2. 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.

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
APA

hip. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip

MLA

“hip.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hip,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hip.

Source: hip on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.