sweptback

[ swept-bak ]

adjective

, Aeronautics.

1. (of the leading edge of an airfoil) forming a markedly obtuse angle with the fuselage.
2. (of an aircraft or winged missile) having wings of this type.

sweptback

/ ˈswɛptˌbæk /

adjective

1. (of an aircraft wing) having leading edge and trailing edges inclined backwards towards the rear of the fuselage

Word History and Origins

Origin of sweptback¹

First recorded in 1915–20; adj. use of verb phrase swept back

Example Sentences

Van Tatenhove was covered in tattoos with several just visible below his sweptback gray hair.

From Washington Post

At 37, he emits the polished gloss of a man on the rise in a capital dominated by much-older power brokers: not one strand of his thick, sweptback hair is out of place or gray.

From Washington Post

But Stalin’s famous visage, with its bushy mustache and sweptback hair, is upstaged by the throngs of ordinary citizens who gather to bear witness and pay tribute.

From New York Times

At Chloé’s spring show, for example, models wore a more low-key, but still bouncy, sweptback look.

From New York Times

Simon Harrold was a tweedy Englishman in his mid-40s, with a neat, white beard and thinning, sweptback hair, longer in the back.

From New York Times