coiffure
Americannoun
-
coiffures
plural
-
a style of arranging the hair.
-
a head covering; headdress.
verb (used with object)
-
coiffures,
present (3rd person singular)
-
coiffured,
past participle, past
-
coiffuring
present participle
-
to arrange or comb (the hair) in a coiffure; to style (the hair).
-
to provide with a head covering or headdress; cover with a coiffure.
noun
-
a hairstyle
-
an obsolete word for headdress
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
coiffuresimple
-
coiffuressimple
-
have coiffuredperfect
-
has coiffuredperfect
-
am coiffuringprogressive
-
are coiffuringprogressive
-
is coiffuringprogressive
-
have been coiffuringperfect progressive
-
has been coiffuringperfect progressive
Past
-
coiffuredsimple
-
had coiffuredperfect
-
was coiffuringprogressive
-
were coiffuringprogressive
-
had been coiffuringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of coiffure
First recorded in 1625–35; from French, equivalent to coiff(er) “to dress the hair” + -ure noun suffix; see origin at coif 2, -ure
Explanation
Coiffure is a fancy French word for hairdo. If you spend a lot of time working on your coiffure, you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror fixing your hair. The word coiffure originally meant hairstylist, now it means the style. The word implies an elaborate style, not just a regular haircut. A beehive hairdo, for instance, would be rightly called a coiffure. A military-style buzz cut is just a trim. The word can be shortened to coif, but be careful as this word has other meanings as well.
Vocabulary lists containing coiffure
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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:
That glorious sweep of a coiffure just has so much to say.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
But really, hello, Barbie, played by Margot Robbie with a megawatt grin and impeccable coiffure, modeling a black-and-white swimsuit and towering over the primordial landscape on skyscraper legs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2023
Sporting a handsome white coiffure and an inviting tone, Ciscomani spoke warmly about his immigrant parents, the price of milk and eggs, the fight against fentanyl and the accessibility of homeownership.
From Salon ● Feb. 10, 2023
Her following is devoted, if precarious; even those who won’t vote for her — “because of, like, the market,” one investment banker explains — admire her fierceness and her consistent coiffure.
From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2022
Her white hair—braided, perhaps; perhaps not—she touched as though replacing a wayward strand from an elegant coiffure.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
The musicians’ hair have been done up in era-appropriate ringlet-featuring coiffures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2023
Both pitchers completed their coiffures with an artificial boost this season, adding hair extensions as a means of expressing their individuality.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2022
Ms. Peters’s two works are bronze, hollow-eyed, open-mouthed heads resembling Art Deco versions of archaic Greek sculptures but with exaggerated coiffures adding a weird, surrealistic dimension.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2016
When she studied the photographs, Torres realized that the figures’ coiffures were all different, though based on a basic template.
From Washington Post ● May 20, 2015
A few adventurous members of the gentler sex took to wearing ridiculous “windshield hats,” watermelon-sized fabric balloons, equipped with little glass windows, that fit over the entire head, leaving ample room for corpulent Victorian coiffures.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
La Voix, who competed in the 2024 series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, arrives at the press event in full make-up with trademark coiffured hair-do.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2025
Her intricately coiffured head bends over a small pillow; we see her hands holding some small pieces of wood, but not her handiwork.
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
The telegenic 52-year-old is starting to show faint streaks of gray in his coiffured hair that could turn into a pleasant presidential look when the time comes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2020
It’s been a good career and a conversation starter, with people expressing surprise at her occupation, said Jones, whose blonde hair is softly coiffured and makeup tastefully applied.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 30, 2014
Two refined looking, middle-aged women attracted attention by the bizarre simplicity with which one of them was attired and coiffured.
From The White Terror and The Red A novel of revolutionary Russia by Abraham Cahan
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.
