hirsute

[ hur-soot, hur-soot ]

adjective

1. hairy; shaggy.

   Synonyms: unshaved, furry, woolly, bushy, bearded, pilose

2. Botany, Zoology. covered with long, rather stiff hairs.
3. of, relating to, or characteristic of hair.

hirsute

/ ˈhɜːsjuːt /

adjective

1. covered with hair
2. (of plants or their parts) covered with long but not stiff hairs
3. (of a person) having long, thick, or untrimmed hair

Derived Forms

• ˈhirsuteness, noun

Other Words From

• hirsute·ness noun
• sub·hirsute adjective
• sub·hirsute·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hirsute¹

1615–25; < Latin hirsūtus rough, shaggy, bristly; akin to horrid

Word History and Origins

Origin of hirsute¹

C17: from Latin hirsūtus shaggy; related to Latin horrēre to bristle, hirtus hairy; see horrid

Example Sentences

The star is not entirely to blame for his hideous, hirsute transgression.

From The Daily Beast

Okay, the historical “Santa” is quite different from the hirsute character on the Hallmark cards.

From The Daily Beast

Arnone is 33, hirsute and handsome, his dark looks inherited from Sicilian ancestors.

From The Daily Beast

A considerably less hirsute host faced down a firing squad, donned clown gear, and got berated by Don Draper himself.

From The Daily Beast

Porter finds that loving a hirsute man is also about accepting the mixed messages his hairiness might imply.

From The Daily Beast

There stood Alpheus Briggs, smearing his bearded lips with his hirsute paw—for once again he had been at the liquor below.

From Project Gutenberg

A quarter of an hour later, Simon the Hirsute, who had now turned sweet as honey, brought me my twelve florins.

From Project Gutenberg

Would you could have heard that vesper hymn stealing hirsute through the mellow evening-air!

From Project Gutenberg

The valve is strong and thick; and the epidermis, when preserved, is hirsute with spines.

From Project Gutenberg

The radii are wide, square on the summits, but not so conspicuously covered by hirsute epidermis as in that species.

From Project Gutenberg