toupee

noun

tou·​pee tü-ˈpā How to pronounce toupee (audio)
1
: a wig or section of hair worn to cover a bald spot
2
: a curl or lock of hair made into a topknot on a periwig or natural coiffure
also : a periwig with such a topknot

Examples of toupee in a Sentence

the weatherman calmly adjusted his toupee after the wind nearly blew it off
Recent Examples on the Web For optimal upkeep, her clients generally come in every two to four weeks for a trim and color touch up, and the toupee itself needs to be replaced every two to three months. Andrea Mandell, Peoplemag, 18 Nov. 2023 Underneath the scruffy facial hair and slick toupee is a Dominican dembow superstar. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 5 Dec. 2023 Clients spend up to $3,800 per year on toupee management, with Cheney custom dying and perming their hair pieces. Andrea Mandell, Peoplemag, 18 Nov. 2023 Pickens or his team of wigmakers then start building the wig by tying one strand at a time in a process that can take 50 to 150 hours, depending on the wig’s complexity, with costs ranging from $4,000 (for a toupee) to between $10,000 and $20,000 for most wigs. Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 July 2023 And while Striker resembles a giant puffy cloud, Wasabi looks, from some angles, like a magnificent toupee. Sarah Lyall, New York Times, 12 May 2023 The staff consensus is that the XJ-SC looks best with its toupee in place, yet none of us feels truly repelled by its aesthetics when everything is stripped down to let the outside in. Larry Griffin, Car and Driver, 24 Apr. 2023 But sharing a toupee? Ron Charles, Washington Post, 14 Mar. 2023 Raskin was known for being stylishly dressed, his oversized glasses and thick white mustache and toupee. Sue Selasky, Detroit Free Press, 27 July 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'toupee.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

French toupet forelock, from Old French, diminutive of top, toup, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German zopf tuft of hair — more at top entry 1

First Known Use

1728, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of toupee was in 1728

Dictionary Entries Near toupee

Cite this Entry

“Toupee.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toupee. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

toupee

noun
tou·​pee tü-ˈpā How to pronounce toupee (audio)
: a small wig worn to cover a bald spot

More from Merriam-Webster on toupee

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!