bikini

UK/bɪˈkiː.ni//bɪˈki.ni/

bikini noun: a brief, often minimalistic two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.

Image: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

bikini (plural bikinis)

A brief, often minimalistic two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.
- Cole has little but scorn for France's famed Bikini bathing suits. Explains he: " French girls, have short legs. Swimsuits have to be hiked up at the sides to make their legs look longer. "1950 October 2, “In the Swim”, in Time
- The café where they were gathered, Bikini Beans, was part of a chain whose baristas wear bikinis.2025 November, Daniel Kolitz, “The Goon Squad: Loneliness, porn’s next frontier, and the dream of endless masturbation”, in Harper's Magazine, →ISSN
Synonyms:

two-piece
A brief bathing suit covering only the pelvis (equivalent to the bottom portion of a two-piece bikini), worn by any gender.
- We high-schoolers didn't understand why death came in the form of a gorgeous young man with muscles in a skimpy bikini.2004, Cathy Crimmons, How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization, page 202
- […]a group of bikini-clad young men had started a game, and Alex could see why lifeguards referred to men's bikinis as banana hammocks. She made a mental note: No men in bikinis in my picnic issue. She was also, naturally, noticing what the women were wearing. It was, as Mel had said, mostly shorts...2024 May 14, Stephen Birmingham, The Rothman Scandal, Open Road Media, →ISBN
Brief underpants or trousers that reach to the hips rather than the waist and have high cut leg holes.
- Boxer shorts, knitted briefs, and bikinis are the most popular styles in shorts, formerly called “drawers.”1982, Ruth Tolman, Selling Men’s Fashion, page 124
- […] slid his pants off, revealing glimpses of red cotton bikinis covered by the tail of his white oxford.1986, Craig G. Harris, “Weekend Plans”, in Joseph Beam, editor, In The Life: A Black Gay Anthology, page 135

Proper noun capitalized: Bikini

Bikini

Bikini atoll.

bikini meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

bikini in Tamil

bathing suit: நீச்சலுடை nīccaluṭai

bikini in Urdu

bathing suit: بِیکِینی bīkīnī

More languagesFewer languages

bikini in Bengali: বিকিনি bikini
bikini in Telugu: బికినీ bikinī
bikini in Malayalam: ബിക്കിനി, ബിക്കിണി
bikini in Kannada: ಈಜುಡುಪು
bikini in Punjabi: ਬਿਕਨੀ, ਬਿਕਿਨੀ, ਬਿਕੀਨੀ
bikini in Gujarati: બિકીની, બિકિની
bikini in Odia: ବିକିନି, ବିକିନୀ
bikini in Nepali: बिकिनी, बिकनी, बिकीनी
bikini in Arabic: بِيكِينِي bīkīnī
bikini in Malay: bikini
bikini in Indonesian: bikini
bikini in Thai: บิกินี bì-gì-nîi
bikini in Vietnamese: bikini, áo tắm hai mảnh

Examples of bikini in a sentence

[…]a group of bikini-clad young men had started a game, and Alex could see why lifeguards referred to men's bikinis as banana hammocks.2024 May 14, Stephen Birmingham, The Rothman Scandal, Open Road Media, →ISBN:
She was nearly in tears when she saw her shorty briefs and bikinis scattered all over the floor.2020, Agnès Ruiz, Tomorrow, Cappuccinos, Bikinis, #love:

All 40 example sentences with bikini

Synonyms of bikini

two-piece

Forms of bikini

plural	bikinis

Plural of bikini: bikinis

Origin of bikini

From French bikini, named after the place name Bikini, from English Bikini, the name of the atoll where the United States tested nuclear weapons in July 1946; it was reckoned that the bathing suit would cause as much excitement as a nuclear bomb. This name was originally from German Bikini, the colonial name of the atoll as part of German New Guinea, and this was derived from Marshallese Pikinni.

From German Bikini, the colonial name of the atoll as part of German New Guinea, and this was derived from Marshallese Pikinni.

Words formed from bikini

Phrases with bikini

Words that rhyme with bikini

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bikini

What does bikini mean?: Bikini means a brief, often minimalistic two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.
What is bikini in Hindi?: Bikini in Hindi is बिकिनी (bikinī). See Bikini meaning in Hindi.
How do you use bikini in a sentence?: […]a group of bikini-clad young men had started a game, and Alex could see why lifeguards referred to men's bikinis as banana hammocks.
What part of speech is bikini?: Bikini can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bikini?: Bikini is pronounced /bɪˈkiː.ni/ (UK).
What is the plural of bikini?: The plural of bikini is bikinis.

Words near bikini in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: bikini (page history and authors); Bikini (page history and authors); bikini (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bikini (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); bikini (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bikini (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bikini (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); bikini (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bikini.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bikini.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bikini. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.