The compound adjective "stoop-shouldered" is a transparent descriptive formation from native English elements. The verb "stoop," with its Old English origins meaning to bend from an upright posture, is combined with the noun "shoulder," referring to the specific body part involved. The adjectival suffix "-ed" is then added, following a common Germanic pattern for creating descriptive terms (e.g., "blue-eyed," "long-legged"). The term's logic is entirely literal: it describes a person "having shoulders that are in a stooped or permanently bent-forward position," directly linking the physical action to the resulting bodily characteristic.

Structure: stoop + shoulder + ed - stoop: From Middle English stoupen, Old English stūpian (to bend forward, bow down). A verb root describing the posture. - shoulder: From Middle English shulder, Old English sculdor. A noun root denoting the body part. - ed: A suffix from Old English -ede, -od, -ad, used to form adjectives from nouns, meaning "having or provided with."