toreador pants

1 7.6

Close-fitting women's pants that end at the calf like those worn by bullfighters

noun
/ˈtɔːriˌɑːdər pænts/

: pantalones toreador

She paired her bright blouse with stylish toreador pants for a chic summer look.

Examples

At the festival, many women wore toreador pants that showcased their fashionable sense.
She had always worn her auburn hair long and was fond of tight, shiny toreador pants and tight shirts scooped low at the neck.

Fiction book (1990)
I cut off the bottom and wore it over black toreador pants.

Fiction book (1993)
He noticed a group of performers wearing colorful toreador pants as they danced on stage.

Synonyms

pedal pushers

vstoreador pants

Archaic

1 4.9

Snug pants for women that end around the middle of the lower leg

end at the calf and reflect bullfighter style rather than casual wear

How Short

shorts

1 1.0

knee pants

Archaic

1 9.9

toreador pants

1 7.6

long trousers

1 1.0

Surface Forms

toreador pants singular

toreador pants plural

Morphology

toreador + pant

The meaning is directly compositional: 'toreador' specifies the style/source (a bullfighter) and 'pants' names the garment, so a learner who knows both words can infer trousers resembling those worn by toreadors (calf-length, close-fitting). This noun+noun modifier pattern is regular and cross-linguistically common, making the expression predictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Toreador pants takes its name from the tight trousers worn by toreadors, the Spanish bullfighters. Those trousers stopped at the calf, so the name now means women's 'close-fitting' pants that end at the calf.