tonsorial

American  

[ton-sawr-ee-uhl, -sohr-] / tɒnˈsɔr i əl, -ˈsoʊr- /

adjective

1. of or relating to a barber or barbering.

   the tonsorial shop.

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tonsorial British  

/ tɒnˈsɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. facetious of or relating to barbering or hairdressing

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Etymology

Origin of tonsorial

1805–15; < Latin tōnsōri ( us ) of shaving ( tond ( ēre ) to shave + -tōrius -tory ¹, with dt > s ) + -al ¹

Explanation

Use the adjective tonsorial when you need a fancy way to talk about barbers. Want to cut hair when you grow up? Tell your parents you're going into the tonsorial field. Even though tonsorial sounds like it has something to do with tonsils, the words are completely unrelated. Tonsorial comes from the Latin tonsorius, "of or pertaining to shearing or shaving." You're most likely to encounter this adjective in a humorous or overly formal context, and it can describe anything that has to do with cutting hair or shaving.

Example Sentences

There may even be one of those two-inch ponytails that were popular in the late 80s in there somewhere – it is hard to see in the general tonsorial disorder.

From The Guardian • Nov. 1, 2019

There is Edgar with the Mariners, Edgar in the All-Star Game, Edgar in all his incarnations and stages of tonsorial evolution.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 15, 2019

More than 50 years after it first aired, Reiner still points out how the episode is unrelated to his own tonsorial choices.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 8, 2016

I am a 78-year-old gentleman who has had the greatest ride through life, still holding court in the Monroe Building 47 years later and tending to the tonsorial needs of third-generation clients.

From Washington Post • Jul. 21, 2016

An all-night drug-store held the corner shop, while other subdivisions were occupied by a "tonsorial parlor," a dairy-lunch room in the favour of many taxicab chauffeurs, a boot-blacking business, and a theatrical hair-dresser's.

From Joan Thursday by Vance, Louis Joseph