red-headed
Americanadjective
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having red hair, as a person.
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having a red head, as an animal, especially a bird.
adjective
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(of a person) having red hair
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(of an animal) having a red head
Etymology
Origin of red-headed
First recorded in 1555–65
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 cover photo speaks a thousand words, about the length of Orlean’s first assignment for an alt-weekly newspaper in Oregon: The red-headed author leans forward laughing as she steers a green go-kart.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2025
"I have red-headed grandchildren and seeing the photographs is really very heartbreaking."
From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2025
In the liner notes for the Craft Recordings anniversary reissue, journalist Josh Modell calls it “the beautiful but misunderstood, complex but overlooked, difficult but incredibly rewarding red-headed stepchild of the R.E.M. catalog.”
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 7, 2023
Better birders than I have already debunked the “sightings” as likely being of pileated woodpeckers or red-headed woodpeckers.
From Slate ● May 27, 2023
The red-headed woman snatched the tureen from me and upended it on her plate.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
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.
