headscarf

noun

head·​scarf ˈhed-ˌskärf How to pronounce headscarf (audio)
plural headscarves ˈhed-ˌskärvz How to pronounce headscarf (audio) also headscarfs
: a fabric covering for the head worn especially by women
… young, well-educated European Muslim women who wear the headscarf as a conscious, articulate choice …Timothy Garton Ash
The stereotypical fortuneteller, a wizened old woman in a fringed headscarf hunched over a crystal ball …Louise Erdich
The US Justice Department, for example, has supported the right of Muslim girls to wear headscarves in public schools.Robert O. Paxton

Examples of headscarf in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Hailey was seen sporting a yellow, abstract bikini bottom, with a similar shirt and a black and white polka-dot headscarf while sitting on a boat in one of the shots. Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 10 July 2025 Like many young Iranian women of her generation, Seti wears a headscarf as little as possible, refusing to bow down to police patrolling the streets looking for renegades. Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 9 July 2025 Most recently, protests about Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died after being taken into police custody for not wearing a headscarf, were brutally repressed. Nbc News, NBC news, 21 June 2025 Mass protests also broke out in the autumn of 2022 after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old, died while detained by the morality police for allegedly wearing her headscarf improperly. Ruth Marks Eglash, FOXNews.com, 19 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for headscarf

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of headscarf was in 1688

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Cite this Entry

“Headscarf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/headscarf. Accessed 13 Jul. 2025.

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