What does mullet mean?
Mullet is a noun with several distinct but established meanings. In contemporary fashion and popular culture, it usually refers to a hairstyle with the hair cut short or close on top and left longer at the sides and back, a look often associated with retro rock and rockabilly styles. It can also mean a marine fish belonging to the family Mugilidae, especially the grey mullet; this sense is particularly familiar in British English, where the fish is an ordinary subject of culinary and ecological discussion. In heraldry, a mullet is a five-pointed star. The word’s unusual range makes it useful when reading older literature, menus, fashion writing, or descriptions of coats of arms. Although the meanings share a single word, context usually makes the intended sense clear. The hairstyle is the dominant general-modern use, the fish is a familiar regional and specialist use, and the heraldic meaning is the most technically restricted.
nounA mullet can be a hairstyle in which the hair is cut short at the top and left longer at the sides; a marine fish of the family Mugilidae; or, in heraldry, a five-pointed star. The hairstyle and the heraldic symbol are now the most familiar uses in general modern English, while the fish sense is established in British English and culinary contexts.
- A men’s hairstyle, especially one in which the hair is short or shaved on top and longer at the sides and back.
- Any marine fish of the family Mugilidae, including the grey mullet and other grey mullets.
- In heraldry, a five-pointed star, ordinarily shown without the points touching and sometimes pierced in the center.
"He asked the barber for a short mullet and left with a sharply tapered haircut."
"The football player’s sharply clipped mullet became part of his distinctive style."
"Fresh mullet and roasted vegetables made a simple dinner."
"The shield bears a silver mullet on a field of blue."
The standard plural is used for multiple hairstyles, fish, or heraldic charges. In culinary contexts, the plural can refer to several fish of the family Mugilidae.
"The barber asked whether he wanted the sides tapered and the mullets blended carefully."
One ordinary word can name a hairstyle, a family of silvery fish, and the five-pointed star used in heraldry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mullet come from?
English borrowed the word from Old French mulet, a diminutive ultimately based on Latin mullus, a term associated with the mullet fish. The same Latin root also underlies words such as mule, muleteer, and mulish. The fish sense is therefore historically established, whereas the hairstyle and heraldic applications are later uses whose precise development is less certain.
How mullet is actually used
The hairstyle sense is especially associated with men and with retro, rockabilly, or fashion contexts, although the word is not limited to any one style movement. The fish sense is common in British English and in specialist or culinary writing; in American English, particular species may be named more specifically. The heraldic sense is technical and normally belongs to discussions of coats of arms.
Easily confused with mullet
A mullet is the haircut itself, whereas a mullet shoe is a type of shoe; the latter uses the word as part of a compound naming an object rather than a hairstyle.