keffiyeh

American

[kuh-fee-uh] / kəˈfi ə /

noun

a traditional scarf or headdress commonly worn by Arab men, made of a square piece of cloth often woven in a checkered pattern: when worn as a headdress, it is kept in place with an agal.

keffiyeh British

/ kɛˈfiːjə /

noun

a cotton headdress worn by Arabs

"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

Inflected Forms

noun

keffiyehs

plural

Etymology

Origin of keffiyeh

C19: from Arabic, perhaps from Late Latin cofea _coif

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.

Holding a yellow rose and wearing a keffiyeh, Meriem Hadjal, 38, said she was detained on board one of the boats on Monday then transferred to Israel.

From Barron's • May 22, 2026

As the protest began, stalls were selling keffiyeh scarves while people handed out placards for protesters.

From BBC • Oct. 11, 2025

The rappers wore military vests and keffiyeh scarves, and performed 30 minutes of protest songs that collided hip-hop, funk and metal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 16, 2025

The Baltimore native is Jewish, but has been wearing a keffiyeh scarf to the protests.

From Seattle Times • May 2, 2024

Her tangle of black matted hair is tied off her scrawny face with a bright beaded keffiyeh, but otherwise allowed to stick out however it likes.

From "Without Refuge" by Jane Mitchell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023