Meanings
noundreadlocks pl (normally plural, singular dreadlock)
singular dreadlock
- pluralplural normallyA hairstyle worn by Rastafarians and others in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into matted strings.
1 more example
The patient history may point to the use of tight hairstyles that put tension on the hair root or hair treatments that increase the vulnerability to traction-related damage. The physician should evaluate for a history of tight ponytails, buns, chignons, braids, twists, weaves, cornrows, dreadlocks, sisterlocks, and hair wefts in addition to the usage of religious hair coverings.
2021, Oma N. Agbai, Jodie Raffi, “Hair Loss in Women of Color”, in Becky S. Li, Howard I. Maibach, editors, Ethnic Skin and Hair and Other Cultural Considerations (Updates in Clinical Dermatology), Cham, Zug, Switzerland: Springer Nature, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 154, column 2
verb
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of dreadlock
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA hairstyle worn by Rastafarians and others in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into matted strings.
Also see
Origin
- Englishlocks
- Englishdread“reverential or respectful fear; awe”
- Jamaican Creoledreadlocks
- Englishdreadlocks
Borrowed from Jamaican Creole dreadlocks, from dread (“of or relating to a dread”, adjective) (from dread (“(usually black) male member of the Rastafarian movement who wears his hair in dreadlocks”, noun), from English dread (“reverential or respectful fear; awe”), referring to the awe inspired by God) + English locks (plural of lock (“length or tuft of hair”)). The English word is analyzable as dread (“Rastafarian”, attributive) + locks.
More words from Jamaican Creole, English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans rastalokke
- rastalokkehairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Bengali জটা
- জটা (jṭa)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Bulgarian раста́ приче́ска, расти́
- раста́ приче́ска (rastá pričéska)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- расти́ (rastí)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Catalan rasta
- rastahairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Chinese Mandarin 長髮綹 /长发绺, 髮綹 /发绺
- 長髮綹 /长发绺 (chángfāliǔ)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- 髮綹 /发绺 (fàliǔ)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- 駭人長髮綹 /骇人长发绺 (hàirén chángfāliǔ)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- 髒辮 /脏辫 (zāngbiàn)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Czech dredy
- dredyhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Danish dreadlocks
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Dutch dreadlocks
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Esperanto feltharoj, rastabukloj
- feltharojhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- rastabuklojhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Finnish rastat, rastatukka
- rastathairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- rastatukkahairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
French dreadlocks, cadenettes
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- cadenetteshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
German Dreadlocks, Dreads
- Dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- Dreadshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- Filzlockenhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- Rastalockenhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Hebrew ראסטות
- ראסטותhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Hindi जटा
- जटा (jaṭā)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Hungarian raszta, raszta haj
- rasztahairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- raszta hajhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Indonesian gimbal
- gimbalhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Italian dreadlocks, acconciatura rasta
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- acconciatura rastahairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Japanese ドレッドヘア, ドレッドロックス
- ドレッドヘア (doreddohea)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- ドレッドロックス (doreddorokkusu)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Korean 험상
- 험상 (heomsang)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Latvian dredi
- dredihairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Malay rambut gimbal, rambut pilinan
- rambut gimbalhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- rambut pilinanhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Norwegian Bokmål dreadlocks
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Polish dredy
- dredyhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Portuguese dreadlock, dreadlocks
- dreadlockhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- dreadhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- dreadshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- rastashairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Romanian dreadlock
- dreadlockhairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Russian дре́длокс, дредло́ки
- дре́длокс (drédloks)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- дредло́ки (dredlóki)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- дре́длоки (drédloki)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- дре́ды (drédy)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Spanish rastas, trenzas africanas
- rastashairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- trenzas africanashairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Swedish dreadlocks
- dreadlockshairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Tamil சடாமுடி
- சடாமுடி (caṭāmuṭi)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Ukrainian дредло́ки, дре́ди
- дредло́ки (dredlóky)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- дре́ди (drédy)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
- ло́ки (lóky)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Urdu جٹا
- جٹا (jaṭā)hairstyle in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into long matted strings
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
dreadlocks. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreadlocks
MLA
“dreadlocks.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreadlocks. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dreadlocks,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dreadlocks.
Source: dreadlocks on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.