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Glite Dictionary
hippity hoppity

hippity hoppity

1 9.5
Moving with quick, bouncy jumps like a child or small animal
  • idiom
  • /ˈhɪpɪti ˈhɒpɪti/
  • Baby Talk
translation icon : saltando alegremente
  • The children played in the garden, jumping around hippity hoppity with joyful laughter.

Examples

  • Hippity, hoppity

    The Pest (1997)

  • Hippity-hoppity

    Dumbo (1941)

  • As she skipped hippity hoppity down the path, her bright dress swayed with each playful jump.

  • The bunny bounced hippity hoppity through the meadow, bringing cheer to all who saw it.

Synonyms

to hop
vshippity hoppity
133 1.0

To move with small quick jumps often on one foot

is more continuous bouncy play rather than single quick jumps
to skip
vshippity hoppity
77 1.0

To move by light hops in a playful way

is bouncier and more childlike than simple light hopping
to caper
vshippity hoppity
3 5.1

To jump or skip around in a lively, playful way

is gentler and more bouncy rather than spirited or mischievous
to hop-skip
vshippity hoppity
1 5.4

To move forward with small quick jumps using one foot then the other

is steadier bouncy play, not an alternating patterned movement
hoppity
vshippity hoppity
  • Informal
7.4

Moving in small playful jumps like a rabbit

is the same meaning but slightly more childish and rhythmic

Antonyms

still
∞ 1.0

Not moving or making a sound

stagnant
46 4.8

Not moving or changing and showing little activity

How Bouncy

hippity hoppity
  • Baby Talk
1 9.5
bouncily
4.0
lightly
86 1.0

Surface Forms

hippity hoppity positive

Morphology

hippity + hoppity

Both constituents explicitly denote cheerful, bouncing movement, and their reduplicative combination intensifies that sense in an onomatopoeic, playful way. This compositional pattern (verb-like/adverbial root + echo/reduplication) is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Hippity hoppity comes from children's rhymes that copy the sound of hopping animals. The parts hippity and hoppity sound like a quick 'hop', so the phrase now means moving with small, bouncy, playful jumps.