Thursday, August 18, 2011

hirsute



hirsute [ˈhɜrsut] a.

1.) Having rough or shaggy hair; hairy, shaggy.
2.) Bot. and Zool. Covered with long and stiffish hairs.
3.) Of or pertaining to hair; of the nature of or consisting of hair.
4.) transf. and fig. Rough, shaggy; untrimmed. Of manners or style: Rough, unpolished (O.E.D. 2nd Ed.).

Etymology: Latin hirsutus, hairy, bristly.

"Juan, I said, was a most beauteous boy,
And had retain'd his boyish look beyond
The usual hirsute seasons which destroy,
With beards and whiskers, and the like, the fond
Parisian aspect which upset old Troy" (Don Juan, George Byron, 1819).

(Untitled, Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, ~1821)
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For those occasions when you need to use the word "hairy" in an essay but don't want to lower the tone.

18 comments:

Jennifer Fabulous said...

This describes a lot of men I have been seeing at the pool lately. Sigh.

GMSoccerPicks said...

Now this is something i could use.
Love that painting, timeless classic and fits the featured word perfectly.

DEZMOND said...

one thing's sure: I'm definitely not hirsute :)

Unknown said...

My face is looking a little too hirsute, I need to shave soon :)

Bibi said...

Aaaah if only I knew this word before I started focussing on architecture. I might have used it on one of my older papers on paintings.
Quite hard to find hirsute architecture. Though I'm pretty sure someone somewhere probably already has designed a hairy house.

<3 Goya! When we saw this painting in class we used to call it "Saturn Devouring His Son", but I'm not sure if that name was given by Goya himself, or by some scholar studying him.

Unknown said...

That painting was in the new wall street movie, not as creepy as one would think.

A Beer for the Shower said...

Hey, it's Brandon. Though I always liked the term 'hair sweater' better. More degrading.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Big hirsute deal?

mamtc said...

Good one. I have heard of hirsutism before. Nope I dont have it.

Mai Yang said...

this one is useful =))

Shaw said...

I never got why that painting is so famous. Kind of overrated if you ask me.

bb said...

haha I love the last sentence. I can't wait to drop this word into a casual conversation.

x. jill
www.thoseghosts.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I read the meaning and, automatically, my brain reverted to its seven year old self and all I could see was Shaggy from Scooby Doo.

That painting is very disturbing yet I can't seem to look away from it.

nowaysj said...

Yo, bro, I used to be hirsute, but now I'm a lean clean machine. Remembered this word from my high school vocab lists, I remembered it by referring to it as "hair-suit" which, you know, basically covers it. :)

See my forthcoming profile pic, for the cleaness that is my machiness.

D4 said...

It definitely sounds better than hairy, it's handy

Unknown said...

Another word I've only encountered reading fantasy novels

Katie said...

Interesting word. That painting is crazy!

shari said...

I just used this word against my dad for a lot of points in Words with Friends, ha ha. You must've reminded me of it.

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