war bonnet

American  

noun

1. an American Indian headdress consisting of a headband with a tail of ornamental feathers.

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war bonnet British  

noun

1. a headband with trailing feathers, worn by certain North American Indian warriors as a headdress

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Etymology

Origin of war bonnet

First recorded in 1800–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

war bonnet

Posing on the cover of Rolling Stone while wearing almost nothing but a feathered war bonnet was supposed to mark Avery’s national success and celebrate her pride as a member of the Muscogee tribe.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025

Chief Plenty Coups, the leader of Crow Nation who was invited to attend the ceremony, laid a war bonnet and a rod known as a coup stick across the coffin.

From New York Times ● Nov. 5, 2021

Astonishingly, he accomplished all this in less than a year, while dressed, most of the time, in beaded buckskins topped off with a feathered war bonnet.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2018

He accepted moose and elk jerky, huckleberry jam and a string tie beaded with the image of a war bonnet.

From Seattle Times ● Mar. 24, 2018

He wore Roman sandals with the lacings coming to his knees, a short skirt of feathers and a war bonnet all of which were painted in bright reds, blues and yellows.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith