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• Afro
  Afro

  noun

  a hairstyle originating with Black people, in which naturally curly or frizzy hair is cut into a full, bushy shape all over the head.
• Afro-
  Afro-

  a combining form of Africa.

Afro

¹ American  

[af-roh] / ˈæf roʊ /

noun

• Afros
  plural

1. a hairstyle originating with Black people, in which naturally curly or frizzy hair is cut into a full, bushy shape all over the head.

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adjective

1. of or relating to African Americans or to Black traditions, culture, etc..

   Afro societies.

Afro- ² American  

1. a combining form of Africa.

   Afro-American; Afro-Asiatic.

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Afro ¹ British  

/ ˈæfrəʊ /

noun

1. a hairstyle in which the hair is shaped into a wide frizzy bush

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Afro- ² British  

combining form

1. indicating Africa or African

   Afro-Asiatic

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• Afros
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of Afro¹

First recorded in 1965–70; independent use of Afro-

Origin of Afro-²

< Latin Āfr- (stem of Āfer an African) + -o-

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Afro Afro- Afros

“Being in Santos Bravos as an Afro Latino is something so important to me,” said Penna.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

It was also great for Johnson Products: Sales of Afro Sheen soared.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Pio Pico, the last governor of Mexican California, was — like many of the settlers who had founded the city of Los Angeles in 1781 — probably a man with Afro Mexican origins.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

Referencing a traditional mourning tent, Teddy Afro – whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun – sings that he is grieving a country he says has been lost.

From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026

I look up at his face, perfect teeth, perfect skin, and he’s just started to grow his hair out and is wearing it in a short Afro.

From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

Such was the world of the Mediterranean basin and Afro- Eurasia in the middle of the fourteenth century when the bubonic plague ravaged central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

Kings, clergy, and scholars helped to preserve the classical past and maintain diplomatic and economic ties across western Afro- Eurasia.

From Textbooks ● Apr. 19, 2023

The unrest began in the north London suburb of Tottenham on Aug. 6, after a local man of Afro- Caribbean origin, Mark Duggan, was killed in a shootout with police.

From BusinessWeek ● Aug. 9, 2011

"There is a mood of Afro- pessimism," says Serageldin.

From Time Magazine Archive

At the end of my talk, I heard “Yes! We support the Afro- American . . . morally, physically, materially if necessary!”

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

That meant little to us as teens wearing big ties and platform shoes, listening to rock and roll while even white guys sported Afros and we all began dancing to disco.

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2025

“I started doing a deep dive of his films. In the final number of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ there’s this moment that is ’70s as all get-out with the Afros and the fashion,” Brewer said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2024

Since then, bills protecting natural hair styles, such as Afros, braids, locks twists and Bantu knots, have spread across the country.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2022

The House voted 235-to-189 to prohibit discrimination on the basis of hair texture and hairstyles like hair that is tightly coiled, curled, or worn in locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, or Afros.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2022

I had already seen three people in dark clothes with Afros.

From "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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