wasp-waisted

English

Etymology

Referring to the slender petiole of a wasp.

Adjective

wasp-waisted (comparative more wasp-waisted, superlative most wasp-waisted)

  1. Having a very slim waist, especially as a result of tightly-laced clothing.
    • 1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin 2006, p. 11:
      He strutted down Bond Street with the best of them, decked out in in his top hat, wasp-waisted coat and silk hose.
    • 2011, Lucy Mangan, The Guardian, 12 Oct 2011:
      "Housewife" recalls too strongly the wasp-waisted 1950s figure outwardly thrilling to the latest advances in domestic technology while necking tranquillisers to dull the pain of frustrated ambition.

Translations

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