What does "sideburns" mean?

Facial hair reaching from the top of the head down the side of the face to the side of the chin.

What is a synonym for "sideburns"?

Common synonyms include: burnside, side whiskers, sideboards.

//ˈsaɪd.bɚnz// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Facial hair reaching from the top of the head down the side of the face to the side of the chin. plural, plural-normally

"I know I'm a huge nerd because my sideburns never match."

Reformed from burnside, named after American Army general Ambrose Burnside (1824–1881), noted for his unusual facial hair.

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