Illustration of hourglass
hour·glass
ˈau̇(-ə)r-ˌglas 
: an instrument for measuring time consisting of a glass vessel having two compartments from the upper of which a quantity of usually sand runs in an hour into the lower one
: shaped like an hourglass
an hourglass figure
Examples of hourglass in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Maya Alzaben, Vogue, 30 Sep. 2025
Unlike Madewell’s regular jeans, its curvy denim was made for hourglass shapes, giving you extra material in the thighs.
—Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025
Kate Branch, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2018
Her bright blouse and pants clung to her thick, hourglass figure.
—Aya De Leon, The Root, 22 Apr. 2018
See All Example Sentences for hourglass
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Noun
At his Dior men’s spring 2026 debut, Anderson expanded ideas of masculinity, sending out Bar jackets recut for male torsos and hourglass silhouettes stretched across broader shoulders.
—Maya Alzaben, Vogue, 30 Sep. 2025
Unlike Madewell’s regular jeans, its curvy denim was made for hourglass shapes, giving you extra material in the thighs.
—Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
And yet, her body, designed by a man, had a waist equivalent to 18 inches on a real woman; an impossibly thin figure made even more so by her zaftig 39-inch bust and 33-inch hourglass hip measurement.
—Kate Branch, Vogue, 27 Apr. 2018
Her bright blouse and pants clung to her thick, hourglass figure.
—Aya De Leon, The Root, 22 Apr. 2018
See All Example Sentences for hourglass
Cite this Entry
“Hourglass.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hourglass. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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