headshot

noun

head·​shot ˈhed-ˌshät 

variants or less commonly head shot

plural headshots also head shots

: a photograph of a person's head and face

When you dream of becoming a big actor, the first thing you have to do is make sure you have your headshots done.

—Stephen Adamson

The difference can be seen by comparing her 2016 headshot—which she also used for this year's Miss Michigan competition—to the recently minted headshot that will be the first thing Miss America judges see of her.

—Justine McGuire

The closet doors were covered with taped-up magazine photos of cast members from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, interspersed with a few dewy-eyed head shots of some androgynous blond actors that Nerese couldn't identify …

—Richard Price

When I saw her the next day, I noticed that she had printed out my prof's head shot from his Web site and stuck it on the dartboard in her dorm room.

—Theresa O'Rourke

Examples of headshot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The next November, voters rejected Mr. Carter and elected Mr. Reagan, who offered Americans an airbrushed headshot of themselves rather than a stark mirror. —James Poniewozik, New York Times, 30 Dec. 2024

Unlike today’s traditional brokerages, whose headshots, listings, and ads are plastered across social media, Hedgerow’s style stems from a more old-school approach. —Emma Reynolds, Forbes, 19 Dec. 2024

The flyer included both a headshot of Mangione and a shirtless photo. —Gord Magill, Newsweek, 21 Dec. 2024

For instance, the John Wick movies’ fight scenes involve a lot of headshot kills, but that was a little too much for us because Axel isn’t really a killer the way John Wick himself is. —Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1936, in the meaning defined above