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bouffant
[ boo-fahnt, boo-fahnt; French boo-fahn ]
/ buˈfɑnt, ˈbu fɑnt; French buˈfɑ̃ /
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adjective
puffed out; full: a bouffant skirt.
noun
a woman's hairstyle in which the hair is teased to give an overall puffed-out appearance and often combed to frame the face.
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Origin of bouffant
First recorded in 1875–80; from French: literally, “swelling” (bouff(er) “to swell” + -ant adjective suffix; see -ant)
OTHER WORDS FROM bouffant
bouf·fan·cy [boo-fuhn-see], /ˈbu fən si/, nounsem·i·bouf·fant, adjectiveWords nearby bouffant
boudin, boudin blanc, boudin noir, boudoir, boudoir grand, bouffant, bouffe, Bougainville, bougainvillea, bough, boughed
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use bouffant in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for bouffant
bouffant
/ (ˈbuːfɒŋ) /
adjective
(of a hair style) having extra height and width through back-combing; puffed out
(of sleeves, skirts, etc) puffed out
noun
a bouffant hair style
Word Origin for bouffant
C20: from French, from bouffer to puff up
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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