If You’ve Got It, Haunt It: October Vocabulary: Shear Genius: Vocab for National Hair Day, October 1

October 1 is National Hair Day (though it doesn't specify good or bad). Whatever length, color, or style you're rocking, this list will make your vocabulary a cut above. Comb on in and brush up on your tonsorial terms!
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. braid
    make by interlacing
    He showed up wearing round glasses, with a braid in his hair - it was kind of a hippie rock retro look - and he just said to me, 'We got to fill this room up.' BBC (Sep 23, 2020)
    Braid is Old English.
  2. chignon
    a roll of hair worn at the nape of the neck
    Her hair is braided and then twisted into a chignon and she wears tiny gold earrings. Washington Post (Aug 25, 2020)
    Chignon is French for "nape of the neck," and that's where the roll or knot in this hairstyle is gathered.
  3. coiffure
    the arrangement of the hair
    “Her hair is geometric, so that helps,” he says of her bob-like coiffure. Washington Post (Feb 15, 2020)
  4. cowlick
    a tuft of hair in a different direction from the rest
    Making her entrance in a sleek tuxedo, courtesy of Ann Roth, the diminutive Jackson — towered over by the likes of Elizabeth Marvel’s Goneril — looks a little like Alfalfa of “The Little Rascals,” minus the cowlick. Washington Post (Apr 4, 2019)
    A cowlick is a curl or tuft of hair that looks as if it was licked by a cow: it sticks up or out away from the head.
  5. crop
    cut short
    I’m constantly amazed with this in-camera stabilization, and new this year is an in-camera horizontal leveling option when shooting in the linear frame, which is a bit cropped in from the wide frame. The Verge (Sep 16, 2020)
  6. disheveled
    in disarray; extremely disorderly
    Netanyahu, appearing pudgy and disheveled in a dark suit and red tie, is seen digging into a large cake - alone amid 12 empty chairs. Washington Times (Jul 29, 2020)
  7. flocculent
    having a fluffy or woolly character or appearance
    He wove about her an influence as difficult to combat as the smothering folds of some flocculent robe or the strands of an invisible web, and no spider was ever more industrious. Beach, Rex Ellingwood
  8. fringe
    a border of hair cut short and hangs across the forehead
    There's no one-size-fits all fringe haircut; you can vary the length, style and finish to suit your face.
    In the U.K., bangs are commonly known as a fringe.
  9. hirsute
    having or covered with hair
    Hairdressers officially reopened across England with some hair salons opening at midnight as hirsute customers took advantage of the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions. BBC (Jul 4, 2020)
    Hirsute is a fancy way of sayin "hairy," and it's easy to remember because it sounds like "hair suit."
  10. pageboy
    a smooth hair style with the ends of the hair curled inward
    Dressed in a caftan and an appropriate white pageboy wig, Amy began phoning my father at the office. Me Talk Pretty One Day
    A pageboy was an attendant or servant in Medieval Europe, and imagery from that time shows them wearing what was known as "pudding basin" haircut, sometimes known today as a "bowl" cut because it looks like an inverted bowl on the person's head.
  11. plait
    a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
    The first time I felt it was in second grade, on the school bus, when two white boys screeched at me, saying I was ugly while tugging on my newly plaited braids. New York Times (Jul 17, 2020)
    Plait is synonymous with braid.
  12. pompadour
    a hair style in which the hair is swept up from the forehead
    At the start we meet Comrade Ivan Ivanovich, a trim man with a pompadour haircut, seated at a small table in an interrogation room before the much larger, intimidating General Yurkovoi. Washington Post
  13. queue
    a braid of hair at the back of the head
    I untied the silk ribbons in his hair, and released his queue from its bag. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party
    Queue is French for "tail," and in the context of hair it refers to a long ponytail. In 17th-century China, Manchu conquerors forced men to shave the front of their heads and pull the rest of their hair back into long, braided tails.
  14. shaggy
    having long, thick, and poorly groomed hair or fur
    He wears a green T-shirt, brown pants, black shoes and that famed shaggy blond hair. Washington Times (Aug 27, 2020)
  15. tonsure
    shaving the crown of the head by priests or monks
    The best-known temple for tonsuring, as the practice is known, in the town of Tirupati, collects hundreds of tons of hair every year, auctioning it off for millions of dollars. Seattle Times (Aug 2, 2018)
    In Medieval Europe, some monks would shave the tops of their heads, leaving a ring of hair below, as a sign of faith before joining the monastic community. It comes from the Latin tonsura, meaning "shearing" or "clipping," which is also the root of tonsorial, the adjective you use to refer to hairdressers, barbers, or anything related to cutting hair.
  16. toupee
    a small hairpiece to cover partial baldness
    With his bushy blond toupee, exaggerated eyebrows and walrus mustache, Taylor was a striking presence. Los Angeles Times (Oct 6, 2019)
Created on Tue Sep 22 21:39:35 EDT 2020 (updated Mon Sep 28 15:44:23 EDT 2020)

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