Word of the Day

: September 6, 2021

coiffure

noun kwah-FYUR

What It Means

A coiffure is a style or manner of arranging the hair.

// Linda almost didn't recognize her daughter as Elyse came off the bus with a stylish, new coiffure.

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coiffure in Context

"Perhaps in no other eras has the female coiffure reached such, well, heights, towering actual feet above the wearer's skull line." — Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun, 5 Oct. 2003

Did You Know?

Coiffure, which is a somewhat fancy way of saying "hairdo," has its roots in the French verb coiffer, which can mean "to arrange (hair)" or "to cover with a coif (any of various close-fitting caps, such as that worn under a veil by a nun)." Be careful not to confuse it with coiffeur, which refers to a person who works as a hairdresser. You may also encounter coif used as a noun to mean "hairstyle" and as a verb in the sense of "to arrange by brushing, combing, or curling" (as in "he had perfectly coifed hair"). In these cases, coif is operating as a shortened form of coiffure.