Meanings
plural bunheads
- informalAn obsessive or extremely dedicated ballerina.
A bunhead who must have strayed from her New York City Ballet aspirations glanced furtively about the room, […]
2000, Donna Allegra, Witness to the League of Blond Hip Hop Dancers, Alyson Books, →ISBN, page 2012 more examples
"Sophie — you're meant to be saying what an honor it is to be studying at The Royal Ballet School, and how you can't wait to become a 'bunhead' — you know, one of those ballet-obsessed people who eat, sleep, and breathe nothing but ballet!"
2005, Alexandra Moss, Lara's Leap of Faith, Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN[…] I'm an aging bunhead. That's my problem. Like I told you, my life is ... But a dancer—especially a ballet dancer—has a shelf life that's shorter than a quart of milk[…]
2006, Leslie Carroll, Spin Doctor, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 19
Origin
From bun (“a tight roll of hair worn at the back of the head”) + head.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
bunhead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunhead
“bunhead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunhead. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bunhead,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bunhead.
Source: bunhead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.