ponytail
Americannoun
-
ponytails
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ponytail
Explanation
A ponytail is a hairstyle. To make a ponytail, gather your hair at the back or side of your head and secure it with a band so that it hangs down. The ponytail was named for its resemblance to the long tail of a horse or pony. While a classic ponytail might be defined as long hair banded at the back of the head, there are many variations. There are short, stubby ponytails; side ponytails; high and low ponytails; and double ponytails, sometimes called "pigtails." This hairstyle, once mainly worn by children, became very popular in the 1950s thanks to the introduction of the Barbie doll and her iconic ponytail.
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:
With her long hair tied back in a ponytail, a white top, beige jacket and wide-legged jeans, she stands out in an industry dominated by men in suits.
From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026
Plus, the risk to oil supplies grows with disruptions in the Red and Black seas, and Lydia Corbett’s high ponytail made her Picasso’s muse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Only this time, it wasn’t the ginormous Viking with the ponytail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
Every single one of her signature ponytail flips sent the room into hysterics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
She’d stopped wearing it in a ponytail just last month.
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
I have like four ponytails in my head and it’s tight and I’m going to regret it when I get older but for an hour it needs to stick.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
She also taught the fathers basic hair-care techniques, including shampooing, detangling, checking for lice and how to tie ponytails and braids.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
“She was daddy’s little girl, she had the curly ponytails and the big blue eyes.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
You can dip in on any page and be amused: “I remember ponytails … I remember always losing one glove … I remember that the red Crayola was always the first to go.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 16, 2022
She had done away with the drab ponytails, let her hair grow, and streaked it with red highlights.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
