skinhead

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noun skin·head \ˈskin-ˌhed\

Definition of skinhead

1 : a person whose hair is cut very short
2 : a usually white male belonging to any of various sometimes violent youth gangs whose members have close-shaven hair and often espouse white-supremacist beliefs

See skinhead defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of skinhead from the Web

The jury assessed $12.5 million in damages against the leaders, their organization and two of the skinheads involved in the beating.

— maxine bernstein, OregonLive.com, "Does hate crime law apply to MAX stabbing? Federal prosecutors still deciding", 2 June 2017
Seraw, an Ethiopian immigrant, was bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat by a group of Portland skinheads in 1988.

— paul vercammen and holly yan, CNN, "Portland's liberal image tempered by history as 'Skinhead City'", 31 May 2017
In 1998, a carload of skinheads beat an Ethiopian man to death.

— lindsey bever, Washington Post, "Portland, often seen as a progressive playground, now deals with murderous hate", 30 May 2017
A nearby text-and-photography installation goes further, arguing that white skinhead culture is also derived from black culture, particularly rude boy Jamaican street culture.

— roberta smith, martha schwendener, jason farago and will heinrich, New York Times, "What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week", 25 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'skinhead'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.