noun
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a person with red hair
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a diving duck, Aythya americana , of North America, the male of which has a grey-and-black body and a reddish-brown head
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of redhead
Compare meaning
How does redhead compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A redhead is a person with red hair. Although sometimes it looks more like orange, “orangehead” isn’t a thing. Only about one percent of the entire population is a real redhead. In England, a redhead is “ginger” haired. Redheads come in many different varieties, from bright red dyed hair to coppery auburn and strawberry blond. Many natural redheads have pale skin that burns easily in the sun and light-colored eyes. The word redhead has been used to mean someone with red hair since at least the 13th century. Even today, kids are sometimes teased for being redheads, but in the Middle Ages, red hair could mark you as a witch or a vampire.
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:
Mr. Sinner is the “cool northern Italian redhead with the Germanic roots and the most punishing of ground strokes.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
There was Molly Hollis, a middle-aged, Midwestern former schoolteacher whose creation required body padding and a wig; a flamboyant redhead; a nearly invisible elderly woman; and, most uncannily, Reichl’s own mother.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Like many other North Korean prisoners, Mr Ahn too was labelled a "redhead", a reference to his communist sympathies, and he struggled to find a proper job.
From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2025
When Bill Walton produced one of the greatest performances in college basketball history, Wooden couldn’t resist taking a tongue-in-cheek jab at the big redhead.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 19, 2024
It truly looked like a flat redhead that had been raked with a big-toothed comb.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
In Scotland, it is thought as many as 13% of the population - about 700,000 people - are natural redheads, a higher percentage than anywhere else in the world.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Like many redheads Hunter said he has experienced bullying over his unusual hair colour.
From Reuters ● Aug. 27, 2023
The 1950s-kitsch dining room at Ogie’s Trailer Park in Providence, R.I., was packed on a Saturday afternoon this month with dozens of loud redheads nursing froufrou cocktails and cha-cha-ing around in platform wedges.
From New York Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
Sammy Silva’s childhood bedroom was a sea of redheads, filled to the brim with toys, figurines and blankets from the “The Little Mermaid,” the 1989 animated Disney film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2022
"It doesn't surprise me that you have a thing for redheads," his grandma said.
From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell
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.
