perm
noun
perm
1 American
[purm]
/ pɜrm /
noun
perms
plural
verb (used with object)
perms,
present (3rd person singular)
permed,
past participle, past
perming
present participle
verb (used without object)
perms,
present (3rd person singular)
permed,
past participle, past
perming
present participle
Perm
2
American
[purm, pairm, pyer m]
/ pɜrm, pɛərm, pjɛrm /
noun
perm
1
British
/ pɜːm /
noun
-
Also called (esp formerly): permanent wave. a hairstyle produced by treatment with heat, chemicals, etc which gives long-lasting waves, curls, or other shaping
-
the act of giving or receiving such a hairstyle
verb
Perm
2
British
/ pjermj /
noun
perm
3
British
/ pɜːm /
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
permsimple
-
permssimple
-
have permedperfect
-
has permedperfect
-
am permingprogressive
-
are permingprogressive
-
is permingprogressive
-
have been permingperfect progressive
-
has been permingperfect progressive
Past
-
permedsimple
-
had permedperfect
-
was permingprogressive
-
were permingprogressive
-
had been permingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of perm
First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening
Explanation
A perm is a chemical treatment that curls your hair. Get a perm today and you'll still have curly hair next month! The word perm is shorthand for permanent wave. The earliest versions of perms were used on wigs, since the chemicals were too harsh for the human scalp. As the technique progressed, it briefly included electric heat and spools for winding the hair. Today's perms use chemicals and curlers — and nearly identical chemicals are used to straighten or relax curly hair. While perms were extremely popular in the 1980s, you don't see many people with perms today.
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:
A male friend recently asked Caruso Sichenzia whether he should get a perm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
"My fringe keeps receding and won't stay up, so I can't get a perm or use wax properly," says Lee Won-woo, 33, who lives in North Chungcheong province.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
“Mrs. Carter put a perm in my hair in ‘79.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2025
"He looks better. Much cooler in terms of perm and with regard to chain."
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2025
I get a big whiff of sour perm and heavy perfume smell.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
Kyiv said it had hit two refineries in Russia's Yaroslavl and Perm regions.
From Barron's ● May 9, 2026
Ukraine has also stepped up attacks on the Russian energy hub of Perm, more than 900 miles deep in central Russia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Ukrainian drones have again hit oil infrastructure in the city of Perm in central Russia, more than 1,500km from the front line.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Stanislav Pozdnyakov, head of the Russian Olympic Committee, said in Perm that the key thing now was to prepare athletes for the 2028 Games.
From Reuters ● Oct. 19, 2023
Mr. Perham, or as everyone called him, Big Perm, because of his last name and because he had bone-straight permed hair, is who pulled me off Brandon.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
She ate more black beans, lathered her scalp with French soap and opted for root perms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
It's fire though because it's like I'm older than you, but just the conversations around perms and around hair has changed.
From Salon ● Mar. 16, 2024
Gone were the fluffy perms that are the definers of K-pop stardom - here instead were "eggheads", anonymised buzzcuts of soldiers on the frontline.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2023
When she moved to Los Angeles, one of the first things she did was look for someone to give her perms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2023
In many cases, they saw students in all four years of their time at the school, from braces to bifocals, pimples to perms.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
I reared my head back to clear soggy permed hair from my face, sending more stray droplets into the eyes of onlookers.
From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2023
Writer-director Brit McAdams’ debut feature takes the readily spoofable Bob Ross-ian allure of a honey-voiced, majestically permed instructor seducing viewers with his therapeutic landscapes, and gives it a gentle nudge into “Anchorman” territory.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2023
Asawa’s mother got her hair permed for the first time and socialized with the other women at the camp, activities her hardscrabble farm life never allowed.
From New York Times ● Jul. 20, 2020
The new hairdo comes after speculation swirled in late December that the singer permed his hair.
From Fox News ● Jan. 8, 2019
Her hair was permed into tight curls that had a faint blue cast.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
Then, at a salon, an aesthetician cleans them with a degreasing solution, and a perming gel is applied to break down the existing bonds in the hair.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2021
She said most beauty schools focus on salon safety and sanitation, and the use of heat styling tools and chemicals for straightening, coloring, perming and relaxing.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2020
Most beauty schools focus on salon safety and sanitation, and the use of heat styling tools and chemicals for straightening, coloring, perming and relaxing.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 28, 2020
The owner, Hatice Utku, is perming the hair of a woman who looks unusually sombre.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 8, 2014
I told her this while I was perming and cutting her hair, because when you’re a hairdresser you have to chat with the customers and make them feel good and act like everything is toasty.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
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.
