Meaning & use
a stylist
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Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to choose clothes, hair, or looks for other people.
Grammar: Countable, so use 'a stylist' for one person and 'stylists' for more than one.
Patterns
- a stylist for someone
- work as a stylist
- hire a stylist
My cousin is a stylist, so she picks outfits for singers before big shows.
The magazine hired a stylist to choose clothes for the photo shoot.
He wants to be a stylist and work backstage at fashion shows.
nouncountable
A person who cuts and shapes hair in a salon.
Grammar: In this sense it is a polite, common word for a hairdresser; it often comes after 'hair'.
Patterns
- hair stylist
- a stylist at a salon
- ask a stylist for advice
Ask a stylist at the salon which cut suits your face shape.
She trained as a hair stylist and now runs her own small salon.
A good stylist will tell you how much upkeep a new haircut needs.
nouncountableformal
A writer or artist known for a careful, distinctive way of using language or form.
Grammar: This is a formal, mainly written use; it describes skill in style, not clothes.
Patterns
- a stylist of something
- a brilliant stylist
- known as a stylist
Critics call her a stylist because every sentence in her novels is carefully shaped.
The director is less a storyteller than a stylist, and his films are famous for their look.
Word forms
| plural | stylists |
|---|
Common combinations
- fashion stylist
- A fashion stylist chooses the clothes models wear at a show.
- hair stylist
- My hair stylist suggested a shorter cut for summer.
- personal stylist
- A personal stylist shops with clients and helps them build a wardrobe.
- work as a stylist
- She worked as a stylist for a TV channel before starting her own business.
- hire a stylist
- They hired a stylist to make the whole band look sharper.
Synonyms and how they differ
- designer
- A designer creates the clothes themselves, while a stylist chooses and combines clothes that already exist.
- hairdresser
- Hairdresser fits everyday speech about cutting hair; stylist sounds a little more upmarket and can also mean a clothes expert.
- consultant
- Consultant is much wider and covers advice in any field, so it is vaguer than stylist.
Word family
- style noun
- The way something is done, made, or worn.
- style verb
- To arrange hair, clothes, or a room in a particular way.
- styling noun
- The act of choosing or arranging someone's clothes, hair, or image.
- stylish adjective
- Attractive and fashionable in appearance.
- stylistic adjective
- Relating to the way something is expressed or designed rather than its content.
Commonly confused: a stylist or stylist? a stylist or stylized?
a stylist vs stylist
Do not confuse 'stylist' with 'stylite', which means an ancient religious person who lived on top of a pillar.
a stylist vs stylized
'Stylized' is an adjective meaning deliberately changed from real life for artistic effect, not a person who styles.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'a stylist' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'A stylist' is a countable noun and needs the article 'a' before the job: 'She is a stylist.' Option 2 drops the article, which is wrong for a singular countable noun. Option 3 uses 'of', which does not fit the pattern 'a stylist for someone'. Option 4 puts 'the' and the object in an order that is not grammatical here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a stylist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.