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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

dreadlocks.

A hairstyle worn by Rastafarians and others in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into matted strings.

10 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈdɹɛdlɒks/Received-Pronunciation/ˈdɹɛdˌlɑks/General-American
  1. A hairstyle worn by Rastafarians and others in which the hair is left to grow long, and twisted into matted strings.

    plural · plural-normally
Where this word comes from

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.

verb/ˈdɹɛdlɒks/Received-Pronunciation/ˈdɹɛdˌlɑks/General-American
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of dreadlock

    form-of · indicative · present · singular · third-person
Where this word comes from

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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.