Meaning & use
stylist
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A person whose job is to cut, color, and arrange hair.
Grammar: Countable: a stylist, two stylists. Often used with hair or salon before it.
Patterns
- hair stylist
- go to a stylist
- a stylist at a salon
My hair stylist recommended a shorter cut for summer.
She trained as a stylist and now works in a busy salon.
The stylist washed and blow-dried my hair in twenty minutes.
nouncountable
A person who chooses clothes, accessories, or looks for someone, especially for public appearances.
Grammar: Countable: a fashion stylist, celebrity stylists. Often used with fashion or celebrity.
Patterns
- fashion stylist
- celebrity stylist
- work as a stylist
The actress arrived with her personal stylist.
He works as a fashion stylist for a magazine.
A good stylist knows how to make a client look confident.
nouncountable
A person who arranges the appearance of food, photographs, or other products for display.
Grammar: Countable; usually with a word like food, photo, or prop before it.
Patterns
- food stylist
- photo stylist
- prop stylist
The food stylist made the burger look juicy for the advertisement.
A photo stylist arranged the clothes before the shoot.
She hired a prop stylist to set up the scene.
Word forms
| plural | stylists |
|---|
Common combinations
- hair stylist
- Ask your hair stylist for advice on dry scalp.
- fashion stylist
- The fashion stylist chose a bold red dress for the event.
- celebrity stylist
- A celebrity stylist often travels with the star.
- personal stylist
- She hired a personal stylist to update her wardrobe.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hairdresser
- More specific: someone who cuts and styles hair, but not usually someone who chooses clothes.
- barber
- A person who mainly cuts men's hair and shaves beards; not used for fashion stylists.
- designer
- A person who creates clothes or products, rather than one who selects and arranges them for a client.
Word family
Commonly confused: stylist or stylist?
stylist vs stylist
Sometimes confused with stylite, which is a religious person who lives on a pillar. The words sound similar but mean very different things.
Practice
Which sentence uses stylist correctly?
Choose one answer.
A stylist works with hair, clothes, or appearance, so cutting hair and creating a look fits. The other options describe a mechanic, a writer, and a doctor.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stylist”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.