tender-headed

adjective

ten·​der-head·​ed ˈten-dər-ˈhe-dəd 

-ˌhe-

variants or less commonly tenderheaded or tender headed

African American English

: tending to experience pain, discomfort, or sensitivity of the scalp that occurs especially when the hair is placed under tension (as when wearing tight hairstyles or when styling hair by combing, brushing, or pulling) and that especially affects people with kinky (see kinky sense 1) hair

Nella was tender-headed; always had been.

—Zakiya Dalila Harris

Growing up, [Taraji P.] Henson said she "couldn't just sit down" and let her mother style her hair. … Henson was tender-headed, and the sensitivity made her "dramatic" during the process, which frustrated her mom.

—Marissa Evans

I have a lot of hair and the fortune of not being tender-headed. So anyone doing my hair who is not me is a welcoming experience, one I'm often willing to pay money for.

—Danielle C. Belton

tender-headedness noun

or tenderheadedness or tender headedness

After struggling to do my hair herself due to my tender-headedness, my mother took me to the beauty salon.

—Starr Savoy

I was probably in sixth grade when I became cognizant of the cultural and political history behind my curls—perhaps when my mother explained "tender-headedness" to me or when I watched Chris Rock's iconic documentary, "Good Hair" in 2009.

—Yasmine Hamou

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above