bad hair day

noun

informal

: a day when one's hair is unattractive and unmanageable

You think you've had a bad hair day? One U.S. woman has hair problems that go way beyond such ordinary complaints as split ends.

—Science News

also : a bad day : a day with many problems, annoyances, etc.

Way back when Moses had that bad hair day on the mountain and broke the commandment tablets, I'm thinking when he put them all back together there was an 11th one missing.

—Dwain Walden

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The best sun hat doesn't just offer protection from the blazing sun or cover up a bad hair day. —Harper's BAZAAR, 21 Feb. 2023

Let these oversized scrunchies make a stylish statement—bad hair day or not—with jeans and a tee. —Madeline Fass, Vogue, 4 Jan. 2023

Whether styled naturally or with a few add-in extensions, flat twists are perfect for any bad hair day. —ELLE, 16 Dec. 2022

Looking like a cross between a rabid ferret and Marie Antoinette on a bad hair day, Bette Midler is the chief rhymes-with-twitch. —Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY, 30 Sep. 2022

There's no such thing as a bad hair day in Fosse's world, and this is due in no small part to the array of statement-making toppers that have outfitted his dancers. —Lauren Valenti, Vogue, 12 Apr. 2022

The look somehow fixes any bad hair day and makes every outfit a little more pulled together. —Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 26 Aug. 2021

The look somehow fixes any bad hair day and makes every outfit a little more pulled together. —Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 26 Aug. 2021

The look somehow fixes any bad hair day and makes every outfit a little more pulled together. —Bella Cacciatore, Glamour, 26 Aug. 2021

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Word History

First Known Use

1970, in the meaning defined above