hijabi

1 of 2

noun

hi·​ja·​bi hi-ˈjä-bē 

plural hijabis

: a Muslim woman who follows the religious practice of wearing a head covering such as a hijab (see hijab sense 1) : a Muslim woman who observes hijab (see hijab sense 2)

In the simplest terms, a hijabi is a Muslim woman or girl who wears the head covering called a hijab.

—Sereen Qader

As a hijabi, [Ridwan] Ibrahim struggled to relay to agencies the meaning behind being a modest model and on one occasion, she recalls one agency made the mistake of casting her for a bikini shot.

—Jada Jackson

I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman—I was the only hijabi in the West Wing—and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included.

—Rumana Ahmed

hijabi

2 of 2

adjective

: of, relating to, or being a Muslim woman who follows the religious practice of wearing a head covering such as a hijab

There are around 18,000 hijabi women—a term describing Muslims who wear a hijab head covering—living in Tampa Bay as of about a decade ago, according to the Islamic Community of Tampa.

—Bernadette Berdychowski

"If the whole country, state by state, were able to pass laws like this … I think we would see a big growth in not just hijabi athletes but a lot of modest athletes in all types of sports," she [Ayah Aldahah] said.

—Sara Weissman

With bridal fashion and wedding day looks being a key part of women's fashion, hijabi fashion trends within that category continue to grow.

—Anmol Irfan

Examples of hijabi in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

These were not the first-gen students and hijabis who showed up at Hunter; many of them appeared to be white. —Emma Green, The New Yorker, 15 Dec. 2023

Ostensibly based on the true story of a real-life military program which trained female service members to build relationships with hijabi women in order to gain intelligence on terrorist activity, Special Ops: Lioness stars Zoe Saldaña, Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, and Laysla de Oliveira. —Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 3 Sep. 2023

Lioness is inspired by the Lioness Engagement Team, a CIA program that existed in real life which was created in order to conduct culturally sensitive searches on hijabi women in Iraq and Afghanistan. —Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 31 Jan. 2023

Kazna Asker is a Yemeni designer who was born and raised in the UK, and made history last year as the first Central Saint Martins graduate to show a hijabi collection at the school’s MA show during London Fashion Week. —Kevin Leblanc, ELLE, 27 Oct. 2022

Day included Graham as the first plus-size model in 2016; Halima Aden as its first hijabi face in 2019; and had Banks return at the age of 46 to dazzle on the cover in 2019, all of which has heightened the relevance of the annual issue. —Janelle Okwodu, Vogue, 10 July 2020

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from Urdu & Persian ḥijābī; Urdu, borrowed from Persian, from ḥijāb hijab + -ī, suffix of appurtenance

Adjective

from attributive use of hijabi entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1986, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

1998, in the meaning defined above