noun
Etymology
Origin of hairdo
Explanation
A hairdo is what a stylist gives you when he cuts and styles your hair. You might go to the salon to get a fancy hairdo before your cousin's wedding. Hairdo is an informal word for "hairstyle." It's the way your hair is cut, dried, and arranged on your head, especially if there's some effort put into it. The way your hair looks when you roll out of bed in the morning isn't a hairdo, and pulling it back into a ponytail or covering it with a bandanna isn't a hairdo either. The elaborate beehive piled five inches high on your grandma's head? Now that's a hairdo.
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.
Never mind that it was said to have been dreamed up by kids at a soda fountain that Short frequented and referred mainly to her upswept hairdo.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026
On the catwalk and in his own life, Valentino exuded luxury down to the last detail of his immaculate hairdo and caramel tan, often photographed with multiple pug dogs at his side.
From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026
Her nightmarish laugh, gravity-defying hairdo and ferocious temper were part of a carefully constructed character that ranks as a comic masterpiece.
From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025
Manville’s real-people arc continued with this year’s “Back to Black,” in which she’s Amy Winehouse’s beloved grandmother Cynthia, a former singer herself who created her granddaughter’s signature beehive hairdo.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 31, 2024
A lady with a beauty-parlor hairdo rolled down the window.
From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls
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.
