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Glite Dictionary
tonsured

tonsured

1 9.9
A person who has part of the head shaved, usually the top, for religious reasons
  • adjective
  • /ˈtʌnʃərd/
  • Literature
: tonsurado
  • The tonsured monk knelt silently in the chapel.

Examples

  • The painting depicts a tonsured priest amid the congregation.

  • Several tonsured figures walked through the ancient cloisters at dawn.

  • Look at that tonsured man!

  • The monk had a tonsured head.

  • The tonsured monk knelt silently in the chapel.

  • Several tonsured figures walked through the ancient cloisters at dawn.

  • The painting depicts a tonsured priest amid the congregation.

Antonyms

unshorn
1 7.4

Not cut, often describing hair or wool

How Bald

bald
236 1.0
shaven
22 2.7
tonsured
  • Literature
1 9.9
short-haired
7 1.3
hairy
149 1.0

Surface Forms

tonsured positive

Morphology

tonsured = tonsure (transparent) = tonsure + ed

Regular past-participle/adjectival formation from the verb 'tonsure', so the meaning 'having a tonsure' is directly derived.

Etymology

The word tonsured comes from the Latin verb tondere, which means 'to shave', and from tonsure, meaning 'a shaving'. So a tonsured person has part of the head, often the top, shaved as a sign of a religious life.