sideburns
Americanplural noun
-
short whiskers extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin.
-
the projections of the hairline forming a border on the face in front of each ear.
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of sideburns
1885–90, alteration of burnsides
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.
The fulcrum of a cultural transition from vibrancy to stagnation was the 1970s, an era remembered now, if at all, for leisure suits, burnt-orange shag carpeting and muttonchop sideburns.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2025
With sideburns and the sharpest mod feather cut, he even looked good in Lycra.
From BBC ● May 13, 2025
“Lauren is sure she doesn’t know what Gladstone’s sideburns looked like. What did Gladstone do? How racist was he? Does she have a problematic cat? This is perhaps not her most pressing issue.”
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 8, 2024
“If I can bring sideburns back, that would be cool,” Mr. Sessa recently told Dazed Digital.
From New York Times ● Jan. 23, 2024
Somehow my dad's seventies sideburns and bushy 'stache didn't deter my mom from wanting to reproduce with him.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
