sweptback

American  

[swept-bak] / ˈswɛptˈbæk /

adjective

Aeronautics.

1. (of the leading edge of an airfoil) forming a markedly obtuse angle with the fuselage.

2. (of an aircraft or winged missile) having wings of this type.

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sweptback British  

/ ˈswɛptˌbæk /

adjective

1. (of an aircraft wing) having leading edge and trailing edges inclined backwards towards the rear of the fuselage

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Etymology

Origin of sweptback

First recorded in 1915–20; adj. use of verb phrase swept back

Example Sentences

Van Tatenhove was covered in tattoos with several just visible below his sweptback gray hair.

From Washington Post • Jul. 12, 2022

At 37, he emits the polished gloss of a man on the rise in a capital dominated by much-older power brokers: not one strand of his thick, sweptback hair is out of place or gray.

From Washington Post • Jul. 11, 2022

Simon Harrold was a tweedy Englishman in his mid-40s, with a neat, white beard and thinning, sweptback hair, longer in the back.

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2017

Mr. Depp, with sweptback silver hair, a dead front tooth and a grayish complexion offsetting icy blue eyes, gives Jimmy a vampirish air.

From New York Times • Sep. 17, 2015

The whole area forward and beside the helm has been thoughtfully finished in a dark grainy pattern so that there are no reflections in the sweptback windscreen to distract the helmsman.

From Time Magazine Archive