English Explanatory Dictionary

wig

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A head of real or synthetic hair worn on the head to disguise baldness, for cultural or religious reasons, for fashion, or by actors to help them better resemble the character they are portraying.
  2. A bigwig.
  3. Among fishermen, an old seal.
verb
  1. To put on a wig; to provide with a wig (especially of an actor etc.).
  2. To upbraid, reprimand.
  3. To act in an extremely emotional way; to be overly excited, irritable, nervous, or fearful; behave erratically.
  4. To shoot in the head.
intj
  1. An expression of shock.
adj
  1. Initialism of wing-in-ground effect.

Pronunciation

wĭg /wɪɡ/ en-us-wig.ogg

Word forms

wig wigs wigging wigged

Etymology

Clipping of periwig, itself an alteration of French perruque. The meaning of "to reprimand" perhaps came from this being something a bigwig would do or perhaps from the expressions to flip one's wig, wigs on the green, or dash my wig!

Synonyms

hairpiece toupee toupe peruke periwig wing-in-ground-effect wing in ground-effect wing-in-ground effect wing in ground effect WISE wing in surface effect wing-in-surface-effect wing in surface-effect wing-in-surface effect

Related words

wiggins wig onto wig on to wig out have one's wig snatched earwig merkin periwig peruke piggy-wig WiG WIGE

Derived words

bag wig bald wig bewigged bigwig blow one's wig bob wig campaign wig Cleopatra wig curly wig flip one's wig fright wig get one's wig split gooseberry wig have one's wig snatched landlady's wig lawyer's wig scratch wig trick wig wig and falsies wig block wig cap wiggy wig head wigless wiglike wiglomeration wigmaker wig out wig-picker wig tree wig tree fern WIG aeroplane WIG aircraft WIG airplane WIG plane WIG ship
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