skinhead

skin·head
S1K5I1N1H4E1A1D2
/ˈskɪn.hɛd/

noun

Someone with a shaved head.

UncommonScrabble 16

Meanings

nounskinhead (plural skinheads)

plural skinheads

  1. A member of a subculture that arose among working-class youth in late 1960s England or its diaspora, defined by close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing, and often associated with violence and white-supremacist or anti-immigrant principles.

    By the end of the show, fights would break out all over the place: the Atlantic City skins against the crew from Philly; the oldschool skinheads feuding with overzealous fresh-cuts.

    2017, Christian Picciolini, White American Youth
    1 more example

    Their rules haven't changed: Skinheads are very young, mostly between the ages of 13 and 18, and they come from strictly working class backgrounds. They wear short‐ankled denims, T‐shirts, suspenders and heavy boots known as Bovverboots (Botherboots), and their hair is shorn to an eighth of an inch all over their skulls. They dance the Reggae, a West Indian shuffle, and they drink Coca Cola and they whip up riots at soccer games.

    1970 March 29, Nik Cohn, “England's New Teen Style Is Violence”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: skin

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA member of a subculture that arose among working-class youth in late 1960s England or its diaspora, defined by close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing, and often associated with violence and white-supremacist or anti-immigrant principles.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nouna member of any of several British or American groups consisting predominantly of young people who shave their heads; some engage in white supremacist and anti-immigrant activities and this leads to the perception that all skinheads are racist and violent

Similar

nouna person whose head is bald or shaved

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kenH-
  2. Proto-Germanic*skinþą
  3. Middle Englishskyn
  4. Englishskin
  5. Proto-Indo-European*kap-?
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kap-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*káput
  8. Proto-Germanic*haubudą
  9. Old Englishhēafod
  10. Middle Englishheed
  11. Englishhead
  12. Englishskinhead

From skin + head.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic سْكِينْهِيد
  • سْكِينْهِيد (skinhid)member of subculture
Bulgarian скинхе́д
  • скинхе́д (skinhéd)member of subculture
Chinese Mandarin 光頭黨 /光头党, 光頭 /光头
  • 光頭黨 /光头党 (guāngtóu-dǎng)member of subculture
  • 光頭 /光头 (guāngtóu)member of subculture
Estonian skinheed
  • skinheedmember of subculture
Finnish skini, skinhead
  • skinimember of subculture
  • skinheadmember of subculture
French skinhead
  • skinheadmember of subculture
German Skinhead
  • Skinheadmember of subculture
Hebrew סקינהד
  • סקינהדmember of subculture
Hindi स्किन्हेड
  • स्किन्हेड (skinheḍ)member of subculture
Hungarian szkinhed, bőrfejű
  • szkinhedmember of subculture
  • bőrfejűmember of subculture
Italian skinhead
  • skinheadmember of subculture
Japanese スキンヘッド, スキン
  • スキンヘッド (sukinheddo)member of subculture
  • スキン (sukin)member of subculture
Korean 스킨헤드
  • 스킨헤드 (seukinhedeu)member of subculture
Polish skinhead, skin
  • skinheadmember of subculture
  • skinmember of subculture
  • skiniomember of subculture
  • łysolmember of subculture
  • łysymember of subculture
Portuguese skinhead
  • skinheadmember of subculture
Russian скинхе́д, скин
  • скинхе́д (skinxéd)member of subculture
  • скин (skin)member of subculture
  • бритоголо́вый (britogolóvyj)member of subculture
Slovak skinhed, skín
  • skinhedmember of subculture
  • skínmember of subculture
Swedish skinhead, skinnskalle
  • skinheadmember of subculture
  • skinnskallemember of subculture
Thai สกินเฮด
  • สกินเฮด (sà-gin-hâyt)member of subculture
Ukrainian скінхе́д, скін
  • скінхе́д (skinxéd)member of subculture
  • скін (skin)member of subculture
Vietnamese gã đầu trọc
  • gã đầu trọcmember of subculture

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

skinhead. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinhead

MLA

“skinhead.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinhead. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skinhead,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skinhead.

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