quiff
noun

- a piece of hair brushed upwards and backwards from a man's forehead

- a hairstyle, worn usually by men, in which the hair at the front of the head is brushed up

- a prominent forelock

Oxford Languages, Cambridge Dictionary, Merriam-Webster

—
WORD ORIGIN

The etymology of the word "quiff" is somewhat uncertain, with several proposed origins:

- from the French word coiffe, which refers to either a hairstyle or, going further back historically, to the mail that knights wore under their helmets.

- from the Dutch word kuif, meaning "crest." Interestingly, the Dutch name for the comic character Tintin, who famously sports a quiff, is Kuifje, which is the diminutive form of this same word.

The word appears to have entered English usage around 1890, initially describing a hairstyle popular among soldiers.

Some etymologists have suggested a connection to another meaning of "quiff" - "a puff or whiff of tobacco smoke" (from 1831, originally in Southern U.S. usage), which itself might be a variant of the word "whiff".

The term has evolved over time but has maintained its association with the distinctive hairstyle where the hair at the front of the head is brushed up, particularly popular in the 1950s and associated with early rock and roll culture.

—
10 POPULAR HAIR IDIOMS 


1.  Bad hair day = a day when everything seems to go wrong. ("I overslept, missed the bus, and forgot my lunch-it's definitely a bad hair day.")

2.  By a hair's breadth = by an extremely small amount or margin; just barely. ("She won by a hair's breadth, scoring just 0.1 higher.”)

3.  Get in someone's hair = to annoy or bother someone persistently. ("The children were getting in my hair while I worked.")

4.  Hair of the dog = an alcoholic drink taken to cure a hangover. ("He swears by a hair of the dog after a night of heavy drinking.")

5.  Hair-raising = very frightening or shocking. ("Driving through the blizzard last night was a hair-raising experience.")

6.  Hang by a hair = to be in a precarious or dangerous situation. ("His job was hanging by a hair after the third missed deadline.")

7.  Keep your hair on = to stay calm and not become angry or upset (often used as an imperative). ("Keep your hair on! The train is only five minutes late.”)

8.  Let your hair down = to relax, behave informally, and enjoy yourself without restraint. ("After the project, the team went out to let their hair down.")

9.  Not turn a hair = to remain calm and show no signs of distress, fear, or surprise. ("Despite the chaos, the nurse didn't turn a hair.")

10.  Split hairs = to argue or worry about small, unimportant details. ("Let's not split hairs about the exact wording; the main idea is clear.")

—
SYNONYMS

afro puff, barnet, beehive, big wave, bird’s nest, blowback, bob, bouffant, brushed-up front, bush, buzz cut, chignon, cluster, coif, coiffe, coiffed curl, coiffure, cockatoo crest, comb-over, coxcomb, cowlick, crest, crowning glory, duck’s arse, ducktail, Elvis puff, Elvis-style, fade, feather cut, feathered lift, fetlock, forelock, fountain fringe, front pouf, front sweep, gravity defier, greaser style, hair horn (hump, lift, swoosh, wave), James Dean special, jelly roll, lifted fringe, mane, mop (peak), mushroom cloud, overhang, pageboy, peanut swirl, pompadour, QUIFF, rockabilly (flip, rise), rooster comb, sticky peak, stormfront, swept wave, swept-up front, thatch crest, top puff, topknot, tousled front, tsunami curl, up-do, upsweep, vertical bang, victory wave, wave front, wind tunnel

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation today, say something like:

“What do you think a person’s QUIFF might be suggesting about their personality or character?”

—
P L E A S E   S U P P O R T   O W A D

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga—my lovely wife and coaching partner, and our eagle-eyed daughter, Jennifer.

It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul, Helga, & Jenny Smith

- Feedback, questions, new word suggestions to: paul@smith.de

- OWAD homepage, word archive, FAQs, publications, events, and more: www.owad.de

---

- to unsubscribe from OWAD, CLICK HERE