toupee
Americannoun
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a man's wig.
-
a patch of false hair for covering a bald spot.
-
(formerly) a curl or an artificial lock of hair on the top of the head, especially as a crowning feature of a periwig.
noun
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a wig or hairpiece worn, esp by men, to cover a bald or balding place
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(formerly) a prominent lock on a periwig, esp in the 18th century
Etymology
Origin of toupee
1720–30; variant of toupet < French, equivalent to Old French to ( u ) p tuft (< Germanic; see top 1) + -et -et
Explanation
A toupee is a partial wig, made to cover a bald patch. You'll have to be careful when you're wearing your toupee on a windy day! It's easy to joke about toupees, since they often seem to quite obviously be covering up bald spots — especially if the toupee is a slightly different color from the remainder of the wearer's real hair. The noun toupee comes from the French word toupet, "tuft of hair." Originally, a toupee was a decorative tuft of fake hair that was worn for the style, rather than to cover up baldness.
Vocabulary lists containing toupee
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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
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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.
A less risky head adjustment — the remarkable return of the toupee.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 26, 2026
Boxer Fabio Wardley posted "don't worry I'll keep it safe" with a video of the toupee on the seat beside him, while Skye Nicolson, external also posed with it on her head.
From BBC • Feb. 1, 2026
I didn’t see a horse until 1984 when I got to work the Derby as a reporter for the first time and witnessed the wind carrying Howard Cosell’s toupee aloft.
From Salon • May 4, 2024
She smiled and stared at him as he dug his thick teeth into the late-autumn grass, a black toupee sliding forward off the top of his head.
From Seattle Times • Nov. 19, 2023
Unfortunately the Wizards’ Council to which he reported his findings were unconvinced, as he had arrived at the meeting wearing nothing but a toupee that on closer inspection proved to be a dead badger.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
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.
