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:
"I cut off my ponytail, shaved off my beard, took all my earrings out, bought a £60 suit - all that's totally true - the day before I had my interview."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
It suits him far more than a ponytail.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
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
Only this time, it wasn’t the ginormous Viking with the ponytail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
We’d be more OK on time if she’d scraped her hair into a ponytail and skipped the makeup, but that’s a useless thought to have when we’re less than thirty minutes out from exam time.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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
Young adults in hiking gear sipped beers beneath chandeliers shaped like wagon wheels as old timers with gray ponytails and cowboy hats chatted with a tattooed bartender.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025
“She was daddy’s little girl, she had the curly ponytails and the big blue eyes.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2024
Dressed in blush-pink suits, with floor-length ponytails, the band are mobbed by fans when they arrive in the Eurovision press centre.
From BBC ● May 11, 2023
“Do two ponytails instead of a French braid. Maybe braid each one. You can do that, right?”
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
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.
