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Synonyms

hairstyle

American  
Or hair style

noun

  • hairstyles
    plural
  1. a style of cutting, arranging, or combing the hair; hairdo; coiffure.


hairstyle British  
/ ˈhɛəˌstaɪl /

noun

  1. a particular mode of arranging, cutting, or setting the hair

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

Etymology

Origin of hairstyle

First recorded in 1910–15; hair + style

Explanation

A hairstyle is the way you get your hair cut or how you arrange it. If you like to shave the sides of your head and gel up the rest of your hair in a spiky mohawk, that's your hairstyle. If your hair stylist or barber says, "Do you want your usual hairstyle?" it means they wonder if you'd like the same crew cut or bob you got last time. A fancy hairstyle, which you can also call a hairdo, might just be for a special occasion: "I'll have a curly hairstyle for the prom, how about you?"

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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:

When it came to Margo’s bouffant hairstyle as the dream HungryGhost, stylist Jaime Leigh McIntosh used a combination of three wigs in pink.

From Los Angeles Times May 20, 2026

Kirchherr, who died at the age of 81 in 2020, has been credited with helping develop the band's aesthetic style and famous mop top hairstyle.

From BBC May 10, 2026

Kim Ju Ae’s “half-updo” mirrors the hairstyle favored by her mother, North Korea’s first lady, Ri Sol Ju.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 28, 2026

Actor Michael Douglas, a longtime Riley friend who was on hand on Sunday, says Riley's trademark swept-back hairstyle inspired the look for his 1987 Oscar-winning role as banker Gordon Gekko in "Wall Street."

From Barron's Feb. 23, 2026

They hadn’t seen each other for years, and here they even showed up wearing the same hairstyle!

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Did you have to go back and forth on your idea of changing hairstyles before you filmed?

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 18, 2026

Victims alerted authorities after spotting her working openly as a hairdresser in an upscale neighborhood in central Damascus, where she posted photos of her hairstyles online.

From Slate May 27, 2026

Some of their resemblance is written into the script, seen in their similar costumes and nearly identical hairstyles, down to their golden ringlets.

From Salon Feb. 28, 2026

Brady changed hairstyles more than Bowie and catwalked into press conferences in impeccable Tom Ford.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 5, 2026

I didn’t know you could spend so much time on hairstyles.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly

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