Meaning & use
hair dress
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Meanings
nouncountablerare
A style or way of arranging hair, especially for a special occasion.
Grammar: Countable; often used with an adjective like an elegant hair dress.
Patterns
- an elegant hair dress
- a simple hair dress
For the wedding, she chose a simple hair dress with flowers.
The stylist created a vintage hair dress for the photo shoot.
His hair dress was neat and traditional.
verbtransitiverare
To arrange or style someone's hair.
Grammar: Takes an object: hair dress someone; more commonly written as hairdress.
Patterns
- hair dress someone
- hair dress for an event
She was hired to hair dress the bride and her bridesmaids.
He learned to hair dress at a salon in Paris.
They will hair dress the actors before the show.
Word forms
| third person singular | hair dresses |
|---|---|
| past tense | hair dressed |
| past participle | hair dressed |
| -ing form | hair dressing |
| plural | hair dresses |
Common combinations
- wedding hair dress
- The bride wanted a classic wedding hair dress.
- elegant hair dress
- She wore an elegant hair dress to the gala.
- hair dress salon
- The hair dress salon was busy before the holidays.
- traditional hair dress
- The dancers wore a traditional hair dress with ribbons.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hairstyle
- Hairstyle is the usual modern word for the way hair is cut or arranged; hair dress is rare and sounds old-fashioned.
- coiffure
- Coiffure is a formal or literary word for an elaborate hairstyle; hair dress is even rarer.
- hairdressing
- Hairdressing means the job or activity of cutting and styling hair, while hair dress usually refers to a particular style or the act of styling.
Word family
- hairdresser noun
- A person whose job is to cut and style hair.
- hairdressing noun
- The activity or profession of cutting and styling hair.
- hairdresser's noun
- The shop or salon where a hairdresser works.
Commonly confused: hair dress or hairdresser?
hair dress vs hairdresser
Hairdresser is the person who cuts hair; hair dress is a rare word for a hairstyle or the act of styling.
Practice
Choose the most natural sentence for everyday English.
Choose one answer.
The usual word for the person or shop is hairdresser, written as one word. 'Hair dress' is rare and not used for the person, and 'hair dresser' and 'hairs dresser' are nonstandard spellings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hair dress”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.