Kufi

adj, noun

adj, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A type of brimless, rounded cap associated with various African nations or ethnicities.

    "Whenever Brown shows up, wearing his African kufi and confronting issues, I find myself nodding vigorously, for old-time’s sake."

  2. 2
    A type of close-fitting cap worn by some Muslims.

    "However, do not assume because the person appears to be conservative (e.g., a woman wearing a head scarf or a man wearing a skull cap or kufi) that the person does not shake hands."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Alternative form of Kufic. alt-of, alternative, not-comparable

Example

More examples

"Whenever Brown shows up, wearing his African kufi and confronting issues, I find myself nodding vigorously, for old-time’s sake."

Etymology

Probably from Arabic كُوفِيَّة (kūfiyya, “keffiyeh”), perhaps via Swahili kofia (“hat”), though some sources suggest a connection to Yoruba fìlà (“cap”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.