toupee
Americannoun
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a man's wig.
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a patch of false hair for covering a bald spot.
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(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; top 1 ) + -et -et
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
Even though the porpoise was large and essentially swallowed whole, the toupee stopped my heart.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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.
