headscarf

noun

head·​scarf ˈhed-ˌskärf 

plural headscarves ˈhed-ˌskärvz  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

The conversation in the classroom doesn’t turn to the repressive regime or the state requirement of headscarves or the geopolitical strategies that have alienated the Islamic Republic of Iran from the global community. —Theater Critic, Los Angeles Times, 11 Apr. 2026

Prize-winning Nasrin Sotoudeh, 64, is renowned for defending activists, opposition politicians and women prosecuted for removing their headscarves. —ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026

In the portrait, taken in the last few weeks, black smoke billows behind her as her fuchsia headscarf billows in the wind behind her. —Charlene Gubash, NBC news, 24 Mar. 2026

Amelirad said Mohammadi had participated in anti-government protests that erupted earlier that year when Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being detained for not wearing her headscarf properly. —Arkansas Online, 22 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1688, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for headscarf

• scarf
• scharf