bouffant

comparative more bouffant · superlative most bouffant

1. Of hair or clothing, full-bodied or puffy; puffed out away from head or body.

   Her bouffant suit made her seem much heavier than her petite figure actually was.

plural bouffants

1. A puffy, round hairstyle, popular in the mid-to-late 16th century, characterized by hair raised high on the head and usually covering the ears or hanging down on the sides.

   Mother went a little pale. “Preposterous!” she said. “I don’t know what’s got into you!” She fiddled with her bouffant, almost as if she was nervous.

   2009 October 29, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Mr Stink, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN

   1 more example

   But by the early 1980s the energy had largely drained from the punk movement, giving way to the synthesizers, eyeliner and bouffants of so-called New Romantic bands like Duran Duran and Adam and the Ants.

   2023 November 30, Matt Phillips, “Shane MacGowan, Songwriter Who Fused Punk and Irish Rebellion, Is Dead at 65”, in The New York Times, →ISSN