skinhead

noun skin·head \ ˈskin-ˌhed \

Updated on: 27 May 2018

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

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Recent Examples of skinhead from the Web

To deepen his understanding, Pardeep befriended former skinhead Arno Michaelis.

— crocker stephenson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Better Angels: On the eve of the school shooting in Texas, a prayer at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek," 20 May 2018
Martinez left her white-power skinhead gang in the 1990s after a youth of violent bigotry, and now volunteers for the nonprofit Life After Hate.

— shannon martinez, Marie Claire, "A Former White Supremacist Condemns Trump: "He Is the Leader They've Been Waiting For"," 17 Aug. 2017
The Ku Klux Klan and the skinheads can get a permit to walk down the street to bash Jews, gays, blacks, immigrants, anybody.

— michael o'connell, The Hollywood Reporter, "Steve Harvey on Returning to Stand-Up, Ambitious TV Plans and (Why Not?) Launching an Organic Food Empire," 27 Apr. 2018
Republican who called Florida shooting survivor a 'skinhead lesbian' quits Maine race A Republican who tweeted insults at two survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, has withdrawn his candidacy for the Maine House of Representatives.

— USA TODAY, "Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend," 18 Mar. 2018
Our popular culture tends to define the racist as a toothless illiterate Klansman in rural Appalachia, or a bitter, angry urban skinhead reacting to limited social prospects.

— robert allen, Detroit Free Press, "Alt-right attorney defends racism, homophobia, Richard Spencer," 1 Mar. 2018
Yet Alt-America grimly reminds us that neo-Nazis, skinheads, Klansmen, Holocaust deniers, and various other stripes of white supremacist have held marches and rallies in America for many years, regardless of who sits in the Oval Office.

— j.c. pan, The New Republic, "Alternative History," 1 Mar. 2018
Farmiga will play the maternal leader of the notorious and violent skinhead gang from which Widner removes himself.

— mia galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, "Vera Farmiga Joins Jamie Bell in Neo-Nazi Drama 'Skin' (Exclusive)," 2 Mar. 2018
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of racist skinhead groups in the United States peaked during the late 1980s and early ’90s, a time when their members committed at least 35 murders.

— j.c. pan, The New Republic, "Alternative History," 1 Mar. 2018

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.

First Known Use of skinhead

1943

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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SKINHEAD Defined for English Language Learners

skinhead

noun

Definition of skinhead for English Language Learners

: a person with a shaved head; especially : a young white person who belongs to a gang whose members shave their heads and have racist beliefs

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See words that rhyme with skinhead Spanish Central: Translation of skinhead Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about skinhead

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