sideburns
Americanplural noun
-
short whiskers extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin.
-
the projections of the hairline forming a border on the face in front of each ear.
plural noun
Etymology
Origin of sideburns
1885–90, alteration of burnsides
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.
BBC Radio 2's Mills joked: "I am playing the role of James from The Traitors, and my fake earring is absolutely killing me, although I am getting quite used to these really big sideburns!"
From BBC • Mar. 19, 2026
The fulcrum of a cultural transition from vibrancy to stagnation was the 1970s, an era remembered now, if at all, for leisure suits, burnt-orange shag carpeting and muttonchop sideburns.
From Salon • Aug. 9, 2025
However, he redeems himself as an administrator by writing impenetrable new rules on the size of officers’ sideburns and mustaches.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2025
“Lauren is sure she doesn’t know what Gladstone’s sideburns looked like. What did Gladstone do? How racist was he? Does she have a problematic cat? This is perhaps not her most pressing issue.”
From Seattle Times • Apr. 8, 2024
They wore shiny, textured gray-blue suits and wide ties and sported long sideburns and slightly too large brown- tinted polarizing glasses.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
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.
