Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
shock-headed

shock-headed

8.0
A person who has thick, untidy hair that sticks up
  • adjective
  • /ʃɑkˈhɛdɪd/
translation icon : despeinado
  • With his shock-headed hair sticking in all directions, he resembled a young lion.

Examples

  • "Look at it," said the shock-headed young man, his smile twisted by his ritual scars.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • "We do not have your great spears," said a shock-headed young man who had parallel rows of scars carved down both cheeks, "but our own suit us well."

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The shock-headed boy looked disheveled after playing outside all day.

  • She admired his shock-headed hairstyle, which gave him a wild and carefree look.

Synonyms

shaggy
vsshock-headed
22 3.2

With long, thick, untidy hair, fur, or material that looks rough

is used more broadly beyond fur but keeps untidy hair sense
uncombed
vsshock-headed
2 3.0

Hair that looks messy because it has not been brushed

is a bushy mass style not simply hair messy from no combing
shaggy-haired
vsshock-headed
1 3.7

Long, thick hair that looks messy and not neat

is similar but emphasizes a general bushy or disordered mass
mop-headed
vsshock-headed
6.7

A thing that has a thick rounded top like a mop of hair or leaves that looks messy

is untidy and bushy without focusing on a rounded top
shaggy-coated
vsshock-headed
4.5

Having long, thick, untidy fur or hair that needs brushing

is mainly about a bushy untidy person hairstyle rather than fur
woolly-haired
vsshock-headed
5.1

Having thick, curly or matted hair like wool

is untidy or bushy but does not require a wool like curl
thick-haired
vsshock-headed
2.3

Having a lot of hair on the head or body

is bushy or untidy in appearance rather than only having dense hair
bed-headed
vsshock-headed
  • Informal
6.7

Having messy hair after you wake up

is a general untidy bushy look not only caused by sleeping or waking

Antonyms

neat
144 1.0

Clean and tidy with things in order

well-groomed
9 3.5

Neat and tidy in appearance with clean clothes and neat hair

How Bushy

shock-headed
8.0
bushy
22 1.3
short-haired
4 1.3

Surface Forms

shock-headed positive

Morphology

shock-headed = shock + head (semi-transparent) = shock + head + ed

The adjective is formed by combining 'shock' (a tuft of hair) with 'head' + '-ed'; 'headed' is a regular adjectival formation but the hair-sense of 'shock' is less familiar to many learners.

Etymology

Shock-headed comes from the old use of shock, which meant a big 'bundle' or 'tuft' (as in a 'shock of wheat'), and -headed meaning 'having on the head'. So shock-headed literally describes someone with a thick, rough bunch of hair, which is why we call a person with untidy, bushy hair 'shock-headed'.