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• hood
  hood

  noun

  a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.
• 'hood
  'hood

  noun

  a neighborhood, especially an urban neighborhood inhabited predominantly by African Americans of low socioeconomic status.
• Hood
  Hood

  noun

  John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
• -hood
  -hood

  a native English suffix denoting state, condition, character, nature, etc., or a body of persons of a particular character or class, formerly used in the formation of nouns: childhood; likelihood; knighthood; priesthood .

hood

¹ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

noun

1. a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.

2. something resembling or suggesting such a covering, especially in shape, as certain petals or sepals.

3. the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.

4. British. the roof of a carriage.

5. a metal cover or canopy for a stove, ventilator, etc.

6. Falconry. a cover for the entire head of a hawk, used when the bird is not in pursuit of game.

7. an ornamental ruffle or fold on the back of the shoulders of an academic gown, jurist's robe, etc.

8. a crest or band of color on the head of certain birds and animals.

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verb (used with object)

• hoods,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hooded,
  past participle,  past
• hooding
  present participle

1. to furnish with a hood.

2. to cover with or as if with a hood.

hood ² American  

[hood, hood] / hʊd, hud /

noun

Slang.

1. a hoodlum.

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'hood ³ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

Or hood

noun

Slang.

1. a neighborhood, especially an urban neighborhood inhabited predominantly by African Americans of low socioeconomic status.

   It’s hard for these kids to break the cycle of poverty and get out of the 'hood.

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Hood ⁴ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

noun

1. John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

2. Raymond Mathewson 1881–1934, U.S. architect.

3. Robin. Robin Hood.

4. Thomas, 1799–1845, English poet and humorist.

5. Mount, a volcanic peak in N Oregon, in the Cascade Range. 11,253 feet (3,430 meters).

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-hood ⁵ American  

1. a native English suffix denoting state, condition, character, nature, etc., or a body of persons of a particular character or class, formerly used in the formation of nouns: childhood; likelihood; knighthood; priesthood .

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hood ¹ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. a loose head covering either attached to a cloak or coat or made as a separate garment

2. something resembling this in shape or use

3. the US and Canadian name for bonnet

4. the folding roof of a convertible car

5. a hoodlike garment worn over an academic gown, indicating its wearer's degree and university

6. falconry a close-fitting cover, placed over the head and eyes of a falcon to keep it quiet when not hunting

7. biology a structure or marking, such as the fold of skin on the head of a cobra, that covers or appears to cover the head or some similar part

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verb

1. (tr) to cover or provide with or as if with a hood

Hood ² British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. See Robin Hood

2. Samuel, 1st Viscount. 1724–1816, British admiral. He fought successfully against the French during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars

3. Thomas. 1799–1845, British poet and humorist: his work includes protest poetry, such as The Song of the Shirt (1843) and The Bridge of Sighs (1844)

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-hood ³ British  

suffix

1. indicating state or condition of being

   manhood

   adulthood

2. indicating a body of persons

   knighthood

   priesthood

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'hood ⁴ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. slang short for neighbourhood

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hood ⁵ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. slang short for hoodlum

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Usage

What does -hood mean? The suffix -hood is used to indicate “a state of being” or "a group of a particular characteristic or class." It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The form -hood comes from Old English hād, meaning “condition” or “rank.” Similar suffixes in Latin include -itās and -tūdō, both of which indicate a state of being and are the sources of the English suffixes -ity and -tude. Check out our entries for both suffixes to learn how frequently they appear.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hoodless
  adjective
• hoodlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• hooding
  present
• hooded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hood
  simple
• hoods
  simple
• have hooded
  perfect
• has hooded
  perfect
• am hooding
  progressive
• are hooding
  progressive
• is hooding
  progressive
• have been hooding
  perfect progressive
• has been hooding
  perfect progressive

Past

• hooded
  simple
• had hooded
  perfect
• was hooding
  progressive
• were hooding
  progressive
• had been hooding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hood
  simple
• will have hooded
  perfect
• will be hooding
  progressive
• will have been hooding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of hood¹

First recorded before 900, in 1925–30 hood ¹ for def. 3 (an Americanism); Middle English hode, Old English hōd; cognate with Old Frisian hōde, Dutch hoed, German Hut hat

Origin of hood²

First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening

Origin of 'hood³

First recorded in 1965–70; African American Vernacular English; by shortening

Origin of -hood⁵

Middle English -hode, -hod, Old English -hād (cognate with German -heit ), special use of hād condition, state, order, quality, rank

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Explanation

A hood is a protective covering. It could be a car hood protecting the engine or your car or it could be the hood on your coat protecting your noggin. Your favorite sweatshirt might have a hood, as well as your fur-lined winter coat and your insulated hood for scuba diving. Other things with a similar protective quality are also called hoods, like the metal vent cover over your stove, the cover on your car's engine, and the cap-like plant sections that cover vulnerable parts. One of the most famous hoods in literature is the red one worn by the main character in "Little Red Riding Hood."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hood 'hood Hood -hood hoods hooded hooding

If we lift the hood on some of these conspiracies, we can understand what people are really afraid of.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

“But the market underneath the hood has still been affected by interest rates.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

A polite middle-aged man raised my hood, duct-taped the hose, and followed me as I limped to a service station.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

A US government aircraft was waiting at Misrata airport when Al-Marimi arrived with a "loosely fitted cloth hood" over his head.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

I pulled my hood over my head and started down the steps, passing an old guy clutching the handrail.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

"But we make black music first and foremost, and all our records is 'hood first'."

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2025

“Being from South Central, if you know ’hood politics, you know that a Rolex chain represents something,” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2024

“I’m not even in the ghetto. I’m not in the ‘hood.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 27, 2023

"They Cloned Tyrone," directed and co-written by Juel Taylor, is a futuristic 'hood mystery based around a white and white-adjacent corporate agenda to control the Black community through fried chicken, drugs and perms.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2023

When rap was born, the early rap stars were not rapping about gangsta life, but “My Adidas” and good times in the ’hood in tunes like “Rapper’s Delight.”

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Jeff Hood: Well, none of them are good, but there are some that function certainly more systematically than others.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

It found global fame after featuring in a scene of the 1991 film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, starring Kevin Costner, and was popular with photographers and artists.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

Mr. Jones is founder of Just Capital and of Tudor Investment Corp and a co-founder of the Robin Hood Foundation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

“We still had quite a bit of beach out there then, so it didn’t reach the boardwalk,” said Hood, 70.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The Hood Trio, tighter than the inside of Voldemort’s nose.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

When joined together, the h- of the -hood is put in immediate apposition with the s of the monks-.

From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

A resident told UK media she had alerted emergency services after seeing three vans blocking a road near the village and a group of men wearing hoods and balaclavas.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

From where he lives on the road opposite, Ray Thompson could see "youngsters standing there with hoods on and covering their faces".

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

The thin aluminum sheets produced at the plant are later stamped into fenders, hoods and other exterior vehicle parts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026

One running gag involves the hotel’s irritation at the nearby goats who trample on the hoods of parked cars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

In Manila, the capital city where Joey now lives, lepers were once required to wear hoods and cloaks and ring a bell to announce their presence.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

France's interior ministry said Saturday's protests involved "targeted acts of violence" from "hooded individuals" in places, including parts of the capital and also in Marseille, Rennes, Toulouse, and the western city of Angers.

From BBC ● Oct. 18, 2026

The reality competition show “The Traitors” is transforming into a sprawling entertainment franchise, with an official board game, signature hooded cloaks, and live immersive experiences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Abu Agila Mohammad Mas'ud Kheir Al-Marimi has alleged he was abducted by armed men and handed over "hooded and bound" to FBI agents, who had a plane waiting to fly him out of the country.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Surrounded by hooded police officers, Claudia Pardo, head of communications for the prosecutor's office, denounced the raid as "illegal."

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Some of them were still masked and hooded; others showed their faces.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Their accounts echo those of the Negra Francisca crew: cuffing and hooding by armed English-speakers before being turned over to a Salvadoran patrol craft, which took them to El Salvador.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

“I never thought I would get plastic surgery,” said Caruso, who opted in after noticing that her eyeliner no longer showed up on her eyes due to hooding.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

She attended a Baptist pastor’s hooding ceremony, a public event for a Japanese sister city, and a luau held by a local nonprofit’s C.E.O.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019

Horrified Sir John told the inquiry he had not been aware of the ruling by former Prime Minister Edward Heath in 1972 outlawing hooding.

From BBC ● May 18, 2010

Gollum blinked, hooding the malice of his eyes with their heavy pale lids.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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