frizz
/frɪz
/verb [with object]
1Form (hair) into a mass of small, tight curls: her hair was crimped and frizzed into a leonine mane...
- That summer the Puerto Rican girls had straightened their hair like Mariah Carey but the white girls were still frizzing their hair out with big perms.
- My hair was frizzed and my natural curls had returned.
- Her wine red hair was frizzed, and her jaw was clenched.
1.1 [no object] (Of hair) form itself into a mass of small, tight curls: his hair had frizzed out symmetrically...
- It has a tendency to frizz up and stick out over my ears so I look like a crazed koala.
- My eyeliner is all smudged, and my hair is frizzing out in tendrils because of the humidity.
- I sighed as I realized how much my hair had frizzed from the rain.
2Dress (chamois or a similar leather) with pumice or a scraping knife.
noun [mass noun]
The state of being formed into a mass of small, tight curls: a perm system designed to add curl without frizz...
- The key to re-creating this style at home is to contain any wild frizz and to let the curls naturally air-dry.
- To cut frizz and shape curls, twist small sections of wet hair around your finger (the sections will remain when you remove your finger) and let them air-dry.
- I've also realised lately that if I don't towel-dry my hair, but apply product right away and let it dry evenly, there's a lot less frizz.
Origin
Late Middle English (in sense 2 of the verb): from French friser. sense 1 of the verb dates from the late 16th century.