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
1 American
[af-roh]
/ ˈæf roʊ /
noun
-
Afros
plural
adjective
Afro-
2
American
Afro
1
British
/ ˈæfrəʊ /
noun
Afro-
2
British
combining form
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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-
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“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
It was because Roy Ayers — the bearded man with an Afro on the album cover — was my biological father.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 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
A tall man with a smooth Afro stood on a crate, speaking through a bullhorn over the people.
From "The Rock and the River" by Kekla Magoon
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
“And we belong with our Afros, with our sisterlocks, with our braids, with our bald heads.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 8, 2022
From Afros and cornrows to wigs and hair extensions, Black hair can be more than just style statements.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 29, 2022
They had long trailing dreadlocks, small Afros, big Afros, twists, braids, massive raucous curls and coils.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
