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Glite Dictionary
bell-bottoms

bell-bottoms

3 5.5
Trousers with legs that get wider from the knee down, often worn in the 1960s and 1970s
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛlˌbɑtəmz/
  • Archaic
translation icon : pantalones de campana
  • In the 1970s, she wore colorful bell-bottoms to every concert she attended.
  • wear bell-bottoms
  • a pair of bell-bottoms
  • hip-hugging bell-bottoms

He keep dressing like a black pastor who told white men they can wear bell bottoms and bright colors.

Examples

  • I got my first pair of bell-bottoms there, a Nehru jacket, and more 45s than I can remember.

    Academic text (2011)

  • Joe's on the floor until he finds Larry's favorite pair of bell bottoms, the ones he's been wearing all week.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • I favored bell-bottoms, but I thought I might wear these anyway.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • I got my first driver's license back in the days of disco and bell bottoms.

    Blog text (3)

  • "Did you wear bell-bottoms in the sixties?"

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Otherwise, there hasn't been a good excuse since the days of bell-bottoms and disco.

    Blog text (12)

  • "You need an army jacket and bigger bell-bottoms," said Tina, with complete solemnity.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I thought of Bibi, so bright and, yes, beautiful, sitting on the bench in her red tunic and purple velvet bell-bottoms.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • And you're right; he's totally stuck in the 70s, wearing bell bottoms and smoking pot.

    Blog text (17)

  • Beavis hops out of the driver's seat, wearing bell-bottoms, chain jewelry, and a 70's afro.

    Fiction book (1996)

Synonyms

trousers
vsbell-bottoms
110 1.0

Clothes worn on the lower body with separate parts for each leg

is a specific flared style of that general lower-body garment
bellbottom trousers
vsbell-bottoms
  • Archaic
4.2

Trousers with legs that become very wide below the knee

is the same item but defined using a slightly different phrase
bellbottom pants
vsbell-bottoms
  • Archaic
4.0

Trousers with legs that become wide from the knee downward

is the same item but expressed with a different common phrase

How Flared

palazzo
1 8.0
bell-bottoms
  • Archaic
3 5.5
skinny jeans
  • UK
12 2.1

Surface Forms

bell-bottoms singular
bell-bottoms plural

Morphology

bell-bottoms = bell-bottom (transparent) = bell + bottom + s

The compound 'bell-bottom' is transparently understood as bottoms shaped like a bell, and the plural is a regular -s suffix.

Etymology

Bell-bottoms gets its name from the shape of the legs: the lower part of the trousers flares out like a bell, and bottoms means 'lower part'. Sailors first wore them so they could move easily, and later they became a popular 1960s and 1970s fashion, which is why today bell-bottoms are trousers that are wide at the ankle.