toupee

noun

tou·​pee tü-ˈpā 

1

: a wig or section of hair worn to cover a bald spot

2

: a curl or lock of hair made into a topknot on a periwig or natural coiffure

also : a periwig with such a topknot

Synonyms

• hairpiece
• rug [slang]
• wig

Examples of toupee in a Sentence

the weatherman calmly adjusted his toupee after the wind nearly blew it off

Recent Examples on the Web

Pickens or his team of wigmakers then start building the wig by tying one strand at a time in a process that can take 50 to 150 hours, depending on the wig’s complexity, with costs ranging from $4,000 (for a toupee) to between $10,000 and $20,000 for most wigs. —Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 July 2023

And while Striker resembles a giant puffy cloud, Wasabi looks, from some angles, like a magnificent toupee. —Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 12 May 2023

The staff consensus is that the XJ-SC looks best with its toupee in place, yet none of us feels truly repelled by its aesthetics when everything is stripped down to let the outside in. —Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 24 Apr. 2023

But sharing a toupee? —Ron Charles, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023

Raskin was known for being stylishly dressed, his oversized glasses and thick white mustache and toupee. —Sue Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 27 July 2021

And now, $22,000 and innumerable worker-hours later, the Bimmer wears a new toupee—a power top. —Barry Winfield, Car and Driver, 2 Jan. 2023

Reportedly Julius Caesar tried the combover, French king Louis XIII popularized the toupee, and George Costanza of Seinfeld fame tried both. —Eric Bender, Discover Magazine, 2 Aug. 2016

Don’t want surgery but not prepared to shave your dome or stoop to a toupee? —Horacio Silva, WSJ, 5 Aug. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

French toupet forelock, from Old French, diminutive of top, toup, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German zopf tuft of hair — more at top entry 1

First Known Use

1728, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

toupee

noun

tou·​pee tü-ˈpā 

: a small wig worn to cover a bald spot