bobbysocks

8.3

Short socks that reach just above the ankle, often worn by girls

noun

Archaic

: calcetines bobby

She wore her favorite dress with a pair of crisp white bobbysocks and saddle shoes.

Examples

My grandmother still has a picture of herself as a teenager in bobbysocks and a poodle skirt.
My sister loves to collect colorful bobbysocks.
In the 1950s, bobbysocks became a symbol of youthful fashion in America.
She wore her favorite bobbysocks with her new shoes.
In the 1950s, bobbysocks became a symbol of youthful fashion in America.
She wore her favorite dress with a pair of crisp white bobbysocks and saddle shoes.
My sister loves to collect colorful bobbysocks that match her outfits.

Synonyms

sock

vsbobbysocks

545 1.0

A soft covering for your foot and lower part of the leg worn inside a shoe

is a specific short type usually worn by girls and young women

anklet

vsbobbysocks

1 1.9

A short sock that reaches just above the ankle

is mainly worn by girls and young women rather than by anyone

bobbysock

vsbobbysocks

Archaic

9.9

A sock that reaches just above the ankle and people often wear with skirts or dresses

is the general modern style not tied to a past teenage fashion

Surface Forms

bobbysocks singular

bobbysocks plural

Morphology

bobbysocks = bobby + sock (semi-transparent) = bobby + sock

The second element 'sock(s)' clearly identifies the item as a type of sock, but 'bobby' does not transparently convey the specific stylistic meaning to many learners, so the exact sense is not fully derivable.

Etymology

Bobbysocks comes from a 1940s and 1950s youth fashion for short white bobby socks that teenage girls wore. A helpful way to remember the name is that bob means 'short', as in 'bobbed hair', so bobby socks are 'short socks', which is why the word now means a sock that reaches just above the ankle.