She has long hair. Describing People’s Hair in English.

In this post we’ll learn some vocabulary and expressions related to describing people’s hair in English.  People have all sorts of different hairstyles, so that’s a common way to describe people. First, we’ll see some expressions related to hair length. Then we’ll see some vocabulary related to curly or straight hair. After that we’ll turn to hair color. Then we’ll talk about braids, cornrows, and other ways people wear their hair. Next, we’ll learn some vocabulary related to being bald. Finally, we’ll wrap up with facial hair.

Short or Long?

If someone asks how long is his hair / her hair, you can answer like this.

• He has/She has short hair.
• He has/She has long hair.
• She’s got shoulder-length hair.
• He’s got a buzz cut. He’s got a crew cut.
  A buzz cut is very short hair, cut very close to the scalp all around the head. A crew cut has very short hair on the sides and back, but is slightly longer on top.

Straight or Curly?

People can have straight hair, curly hair, and everything in between.  

• He has/She has straight hair.
• He has/She has curly hair.
• He has/She has wavy hair.
  Wavy hair is slightly curly. Not very tight curls, but not straight.
• He has/She has an afro.
  An afro is when naturally curly hair stands out around the head in a round ball.
• She straightens her hair.
  If a person has curly hair but wants straight hair, he or she may straighten it.

What Color is His Hair?

There are lots of words that we use in English to describe hair color.

• He has/She has blond hair/black hair.
  If someone has blond hair, you can also say she’s a blonde or he’s a blond.
• He has/She has red hair/brown hair/gray hair.
  Sometimes women with brown hair are called brunettes. People with red hair are redheads, or they are sometimes called gingers idiomatically.
• She has / He has gray hair.
  If a person’s hair is turning gray, you can say that they have salt and pepper hair. The phrase he is going gray means that his hair is turning gray.

Braid, Cornrows, and Pigtails

People wear their hair in all sorts of different ways.

• She has braids. She has pigtails. She has a ponytail.
  Braids are when hair is woven together. Pigtails are two pieces of hair that are held together on each side of (typically) a girl’s head, and a ponytail is one group of hair held together on the back, like the tail of a pony, a small horse.
• He’s got a man bun.
  If a man has long hair that he keeps in a ball on the top of his hair, that is called a man bun.
• He has/She has cornrows.
  Cornrows are very tight braids that are close to the scalp – the skin under the hair. Cornrows are most common with black people, both men and women.
• She wears extensions.
  Extensions are either natural or synthetic hair that is woven into real hair to make it longer or to give it a different color.
• He’s got / She’s got dreadlocks/locs/dreads.
  Dreadlocks (locs or dreads) are matted rope-like strands of hair formed by twisting hair together.
• He’s got a mullet.
  A mullet is a hairstyle that is short in the front and on the sides, but long in the back.

He’s Bald.

• He’s bald. He shaves his head.
  Bald means without hair. If a man chooses to do this, you usually say that he shaves his head.
• He’s losing his hair/going bald. He has a receding hairline.
  To have a receding hairline means that a man’s forehead is getting bigger and bigger because he’s losing his hair. Another way to say he’s losing his hair is he’s going bald.  
• He’s got a bald spot.
  A bald spot is a patch of thin or missing hair, for example at the top of a man’s head.
• His comb over doesn’t look good.
  If a man tries to conceal a bald spot by letting his hair grow long and then combing it on top of the bald spot, it’s called a comb over.

Facial Hair

• He has facial hair. He has a mustache/beard.
  Facial hair is the general term for hair (or whiskers) on a man’s face. If it’s just above the lip, it’s a mustache, and if it’s the whole face, it’s a beard.
• He has sideburns.
  Sideburns are the hair that comes down onto a man’s cheeks, at the very top of his beard.
• He’s got a goatee.
  A goatee is a style of facial hair where there is a beard only on the chin, or on the chin and mustache.

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