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ponytail

American  
[poh-nee-teyl] / ˈpoʊ niˌteɪl /

noun

  1. an arrangement of the hair in a long lock drawn tightly against the back of the head and cinched so as to hang loosely.

ponytail British  
/ ˈpəʊnɪˌteɪl /

noun

  1. a hairstyle in which the hair is pulled tightly into a band or ribbon at the back of the head into a loose hanging fall

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of ponytail

First recorded in 1870–75; pony + tail 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Gone are the bangs and ponytail of her first public appearances.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 28, 2026

Former classmates remember her as wearing Juicy Couture tracksuits over a white top, poker-straight hair tied up in a ponytail.

From Slate • Dec. 18, 2025

“This can’t be happening,” I wail, my hands shaking as I feel the unprecedented thinness of my ponytail.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 9, 2025

He wore black turtlenecks, short-sleeved because it was summer, and kept a stubby, utterly earnest ponytail.

From Salon • Nov. 23, 2025

Her dark hair stood up in two tufts circled haphazardly with ponytail rubber bands on opposite sides of her head.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.