hirsute

adjective

hir·​sute ˈhər-ˌsüt 

ˈhir-;

ˌhər-ˈsüt,

hir- 

1

: hairy sense 1

his hirsute chest

2

: covered with coarse stiff hairs

a hirsute leaf

hirsuteness noun

Did you know?

If you’ve seen even one horror movie featuring a werewolf, you likely can recall the classic transformation scene of such films: tufts of hair sprouting from under cuffs and collars, some unfortunate soul’s head suddenly covered by a shaggy, full-face beard. It’s enough to make the hair stand up on the back of your own neck! Werewolves are common hirsute horror antagonists, which is fitting (unlike a werewolf’s clothes) since hirsute and horror share etymological roots. Hirsute entered English in the early 17th century with nearly the same spelling and exactly the same meaning as its Latin parent, hirsutus. Hirsutus, in turn, is a cousin of the Latin verb horrēre, meaning “to bristle.” Horrēre gave rise to the Latin word horrōr-, horror, which has the various meanings of “standing stiffly,” “bristling,” “shivering,” “dread,” and “consternation,” and is the source, via Anglo-French, of our word horror. And if you need a fancy word for the goose bumps you experience watching Lon Chaney in his hirsute suit, may we suggest another hirsute relation, horripilation; its Latin source, the verb horripilāre, means “to shudder,” and was formed from horrēre and pilus (“hair”).

Synonyms

• bristly
• brushy
• cottony
• fleecy
• furred
• furry
• hairy
• rough
• shaggy
• silky
• unshorn
• woolly
• wooly

Examples of hirsute in a Sentence

wore a hirsute mask as part of his werewolf costume

Recent Examples on the Web

As a 10-year-old trapped in the body of a hirsute 40-year-old, Robin Williams is playing a character who isn’t aspiring to be older, like Hanks in the earlier film, but a lonely, awkward, lumbering kid who’s seized by alternating bouts of hyperactivity and deep insecurity. —Scott Tobias, Vulture, 27 Sep. 2024

That’s when the futuristic campus — featuring William Pereira’s brutalist architecture — provided the setting for a violent showdown between humans and their more hirsute primate cousins in the dystopian Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. —Will Swaim, National Review, 11 June 2024

Mandy Patinkin is at last fulfilling his hirsute destiny and entering the legion of world's greatest detectives as Rufus Cotesworth in Hulu's Death and Other Details — and EW has your exclusive first look. —EW.com, 9 Nov. 2023

Cameron Hardin, an affable, hirsute Eastman, Georgia stay-at-home dad, has been placed as a pawn two weeks in a row. —Rodney Ho, ajc, 27 Aug. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Latin hirsutus; akin to Latin horrēre to bristle — more at horror

First Known Use

1621, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!

Kids Definition

hirsute

adjective

hir·​sute ˈhər-ˌsüt  ˈhi(ə)r- 

1

: hairy sense 1

2

: covered with coarse stiff hairs

a hirsute leaf

Medical Definition

hirsute

adjective

hir·​sute ˈhər-ˌsüt  ˈhi(ə)r- 

ˌhər-ˈ,

hi(ə)r-ˈ

: very hairy

hirsuteness noun