babushka

American  

[buh-boosh-kuh, -boosh-] / bəˈbʊʃ kə, -ˈbuʃ- /

noun

1. a woman's scarf, often triangular, used as a hood with two of the ends tied under the chin.

2. an elderly Russian woman, especially an elderly grandmother.

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babushka British  

/ bəˈbuːʃkə /

noun

1. a headscarf tied under the chin, worn by Russian peasant women

2. (in Russia) an old woman

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Etymology

Origin of babushka

First recorded in 1935–40; from Russian bábushka “grandmother,” from báb(a) baba ¹ ( def. ) + -ushka, diminutive suffix

Explanation

If you're Russian or Polish, your babushka is your grandmother. If she wears a scarf covering her hair and tied under her chin, you can call that a babushka, too. People from Slavic countries usually shorten babushka to address their grandmas as "Baba," "Babulya," or "Busia." In some cases, they might also refer to grandmotherly women in general as babushkas. From this "grandmother" meaning, the word also came to describe a headcovering that was once commonly worn by older ladies, especially in rural areas of Eastern Europe.

Example Sentences

The mouthy pool shark Minnesota Fats is given as much attention as the babushka Lyudmila Borisovna—an anti-Nazi broadcaster whom Joseph Goebbels called the witch of the Kremlin.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

Oliver presents as all sunny, breezy love, sporting a trucker cap over a babushka over bleached pink hair.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025

As a boy, I hand-made pelmeni with my babushka Alla, my hands and face covered in flour as we worked in the cold of my grandparents’ basement in Paterson, New Jersey.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 7, 2023

“There was a 92-year-old babushka who was injured, and we put her on the stretcher and helped get her out.”

From New York Times • May 14, 2023

Ruthie, tall skinny lady with red lipstick and blue babushka, one blue sock and one green because she forgot, is the only grown-up we know who likes to play.

From "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros