hair metal

noun

variants or hair-metal

: hard rock or heavy metal music characterized by hedonistic lyrics and performers wearing flamboyant makeup and usually having long, heavily styled hair

… the style of music was dubbed "hair metal" because of the large hairstyles many of the musicians sported, often teased and sprayed with so much hairspray that you truly wonder how (or if) they were ever able to brush it out.

—Lauryn Schaffner

… a bad-boy party animal who still listens to hair-metal …

—Matt Soergel

The movie tells the story of a fictional '80s hair metal band called CougarSnake that needs a new lead singer before they reunite.

—Chris Jordan

Examples of hair metal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The hair metal craze was off to a very jumpy and problematic start. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1990, in the meaning defined above