Meanings
present singular third person tears one's hair out · participle present tearing one's hair out · past tore one's hair out · participle past torn one's hair out · alternative tear out one's hair · alternative pull one's hair out · alternative pull out one's hair
- idiomaticTo react with extreme agitation.
My friend's job at a call center is so stressful he could tear his hair out.
1 more example
"It's only a rattle," Alice said, after a careful examination of the little white thing. "Not a rattle-snake, you know," she added hastily, thinking that he was frightened: "only an old rattle — quite old and broken." "I knew it was!" cried Tweedledum, beginning to stamp about wildly and tear his hair. "It's spoilt, of course!" Here he looked at Tweedledee, who immediately sat down on the ground, and tried to hide himself under the umbrella.
1871, Lewis Carroll, “Chapter IV”, in Through the Looking-Glass
Translations
French s'arracher les cheveux
- s'arracher les cheveuxreact with extreme agitation
Greek τραβάω τα μαλλιά μου
- τραβάω τα μαλλιά μου (traváo ta malliá mou)react with extreme agitation
Spanish rasgarse las vestiduras, mesarse los cabellos
- rasgarse las vestidurasreact with extreme agitation
- mesarse los cabellosreact with extreme agitation
Cite this entry
tear one's hair out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tear%20one's%20hair%20out
“tear one's hair out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tear%20one's%20hair%20out. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tear one's hair out,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tear%20one's%20hair%20out.
Source: tear one's hair out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.