skort

plural skorts

1. A pair of shorts designed to look like a skirt via the addition of a panel of fabric.

   Trina: I'm holding a pair of skorts. Jen: (gasp) Trina, listen very carefully to me. Put the skorts down and back away slowly. BACK AWAY! Look for the nearest exit!

   2010, Jen Hatmaker, Out of the Spin Cycle: Devotions to Lighten Your Mother Load, page 91

   4 more examples

   Fashion has given the English language a new word to contend with: “skort,” a hybrid garment consisting of a mid-thigh-length pleated skirt with a matching pair of short bloomers attached underneath.

   [1957 June 10, “Snappy Skort, New for Sport”, in LIFE, Time

   All the major athletic apparel companies now offer skirts, or skorts. (What's the difference between a skort and a running skirt? Nothing, really, but I like the latter term better.)

   2008 August, Sarah Bowen Shea, “Speedy, Sexy, Cool: What to look for if you're putting shorts behind”, in Runner's World, page 74

   Often erroneously confused with culottes (see also: culottes), the skort appears to be a skirt in the front (due to a clever little fabric flap) but reveals its essential shorts-ness from behind. The skort is typically short (often very short) and is designed for sporty activities such as tennis and hiking.

   2011, Anna Lefler, The Chicktionary: From A-line to Z-snap, the words every woman should know, page 179

   Skorts—a hybrid garment that traditionally blends culotte-style shorts with a wrapover fabric at the front that resembles a skirt—have soared in popularity lately thanks to the rise of “tenniscore” fashion.

   2025 August 16, Grace Cook, “The case for the skort on and off the court”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 5

   Synonyms: scooter, scooter skirt