Entry · catalog no. 5060
dreadlocks
/ — /pending
noun · Jamaica, adopted widely in U.S. Black communities · 1930s (Jamaica) / 1970s–
✓ Verified
1.
A hairstyle in which the hair is left uncombed and allowed to mat, twist, or lock into thick, rope-like sections; also shortened to 'dreads' or called 'locs.' In everyday Black speech the word names both the physical hairstyle and, by extension, a stance — wearing your hair in its natural, uncut, unstraightened state as a statement of identity, spirituality, or refusal to conform to mainstream grooming standards.
“She locked her hair three years ago and says her dreads are the healthiest her natural hair has ever been.”
Origin & Attribution
The word comes out of the Rastafari movement that formed among poor and working Afro-Jamaican communities in the 1930s, and the term itself is first recorded in the 1950s-60s as Rastas who let their hair mat were called 'dreadful' or 'dread' by the Eurocentric Jamaican establishment that found the look frightening. Etymonline dates the compound to 1960, tying it to dread (adj.) plus locks, and notes that Rastafarian dread by 1974 carried the added sense of awe or reverence toward God rather than mere fear. Byrd and Tharps, in Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America, trace an
1930s
Rastafari movement emerges among poor Afro-Jamaican communities.
1950s–60s
Term 'dreadlocks' enters English print, tied to Rastas seen as dreadful/awe-filled.
1970s
Bob Marley and reggae's global rise spread the hairstyle and word beyond Jamaica.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Jamaica, adopted widely in U.S. Black communities · 1930s (Jamaica) / 1970s–
Spoken by
Rastafarians originally; now worn and claimed broadly across the African diaspora, especially within Black natural-hair
$DREADLThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Enduring66 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
78/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1960
in the culture
Recorded here
2026
point of first record
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
the term dreadlocks was first used in the 1950s and considered derogatory, referring to Jamaica's marginalised poor people
web article on dreadlock history
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1960, from dread (adj.) + locks
Online Etymology Dictionary entry
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+ Cite a sourcedreadlocks was coined by British soldiers who encountered Kenyan fighters with matted bunches of hair
citing Byrd & Tharps, Hair Story
Also spelled
See also