Chinese word

头发

Pronunciation

Pinyintóu fa

Meaning

  • nounhair

Example

我想把头发剪短了。wǒ xiǎng bǎ tóu fa jián duǎn le

I want to cut my hair short.

Illustration for 头发 (hair)

More examples

他每天都用梳子梳头发。tā měi tiān dōu yòng shū zi shū tóu fa

He uses a comb to comb his hair every day.

Core concept

The collection of strands that grows on the head and can be washed, shaped, or cut.

Common phrases

  • 剪头发jiǎn tóu fa

    cut one's hair

  • 洗头发xǐ tóu fa

    wash one's hair

  • 梳头发shū tóu fa

    comb one's hair

Similar words

发fā: Hair on the head in casual spoken language.
毛máo: Hair or soft fibers growing on people, animals, or other parts of the body.

Definition in Chinese

覆盖于头皮表面的毛发的统称，也可专指个别发丝，常用于谈论洗护、造型或长度的变化。fù gài yú tóu pí biǎo miàn de máo fà de tǒng chēng yě kě zhuān zhǐ gè bié fā sī cháng yòng yú tán lùn xǐ hù zào xíng huò cháng dù de biàn huà

Word origin

The simplified spelling 头发 (tóufa, "hair") preserves a compound in which 头 (tóu, "head") identifies the location and 发 (fà, "hair") identifies what grows there.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Chinese, 洗头 (xǐ tóu, "wash the head") normally means washing the hair, so its natural meaning is broader than a word-for-word English reading suggests.

Opposites

  • 光头guāng tóubald headnoun
  • 秃头tū tóubald personnoun

Related words

  • 头发丝tóu fa sīhair strandnoun

Word lists with this word