ponytail
Americannoun
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:
Only this time, it wasn’t the ginormous Viking with the ponytail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
In a short while, Jones had gained enough confidence in whipping his mannequin’s hair into a ponytail that he vowed to try with his daughter soon.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The Argentina defender had briefly grasped the ponytail of striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and was shown a red card after referee Paul Tierney was sent to the screen.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
Gone are the bangs and ponytail of her first public appearances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 28, 2026
Mr. Fabian has gray hair pulled back in a ponytail, and he is in the front of the room checking off names.
From "Muffled" by Jennifer Gennari
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
Last year, the Army and the Air Force released new rules that allow more flexibility for service members who wear locs, twists, braids and ponytails.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 11, 2022
She looked like a Kristen-Tiffany-Declaration triplet in matching ankle socks and ponytails.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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.
