motorhead

M3O1T1O1R1H4E1A1D2
UK/ˈməʊtə(ɹ)ˌhɛd/US/ˈmoʊtɚˌhɛd/

noun

A car, truck, or motorcycle enthusiast.

Similar
gearheadpetrolheadrevheadspeed freak
OriginEnglish head ← Middle English heed ← Old English hēafod →
Less commonScrabble 15
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Meanings

nounmotorhead (plural motorheads)

plural motorheads

  1. CanadaUSslangA car, truck, or motorcycle enthusiast.

    The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude.

    1986, John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Motion Picture), spoken by Grace Wheelberg (Edie McClurg)
    1 more example

    Amelia may soon return to her roots in TV production as she completes an exciting pilot about car culture, a nice integration of vocation and avocation for this particular motorhead.

    2023 December 13, “SoCal Car Guru Motorhead Mama Shares Sage Advice for Potential EV Buyers”, in Golden State

    Synonyms: gearhead, petrolhead, revhead

  2. UKslangA heavy user of amphetamines.

    Synonyms: speed freak

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA car, truck, or motorcycle enthusiast.

Similar
gearheadpetrolheadrevhead

nounA heavy user of amphetamines.

Similar
speed freak
Also see
petrolhead

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)ewh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*m(y)owh₁éyeti
  3. Proto-Italic*moweō
  4. Latinmoveō
  5. Latinmōtor
  6. Middle Englishmotour
  7. Englishmotor
  8. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  9. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  10. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  11. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  12. Old Englishhēafod
  13. Middle Englishheed
  14. Englishhead
  15. Englishmotorhead

From motor + -head.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish automies, spiidipää
  • automiescar enthusiast
  • spiidipääheavy user of amphetamine
Russian амфетами́нщик, амфетами́нщица
  • амфетами́нщик (amfetamínščik)heavy user of amphetamine
  • амфетами́нщица (amfetamínščica)heavy user of amphetamine
Cite this entry
APA

motorhead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motorhead

MLA

“motorhead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motorhead. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “motorhead,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/motorhead.

Source: motorhead on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.