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Glite Dictionary
💇 Hair brushed back ↩️ Curved backward
backswept

backswept

6.3
Hair brushed back so it lies toward the back of the head
  • adjective
  • /ˈbækswɛpt/
translation icon : peinado hacia atrás
  • Jason was tall and classically handsome, with chiseled features and backswept brown hair.
  • backswept hair

Examples

  • She styled her hair in a sleek, backswept fashion to complement her evening gown.

  • He wore the latest backswept wig, and his coat was cut velvet, embroidered all over with hundreds of frivolous silk butterflies.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The model walked down the runway flaunting her elegant backswept hairstyle.

Synonyms

sweptback
vsbackswept
5.5

Hair combed back away from the face

is the same meaning but uses opposite word order

How Prominent

spiky
16 3.3
sticky-outy hairdo
  • Informal
9.1
backswept
6.3
sleek
20 3.7

Surface Forms

backswept positive

Morphology

backswept = back + sweep (transparent) = back + swept

The meaning is directly derived from 'back' + past-participle of 'sweep' (i.e., swept toward the back), which a B1 learner can infer.

Etymology

Backswept is made of back and swept, which together mean 'swept toward the back' like hair brushed back with a comb, so backswept hair is simply hair that has been styled or brushed toward the back of the head.