# What Do Barbers Call a Tuft of Hair That Stands Straight Up?

> The answer is a cowlick, a tuft of hair that stands straight up, most common at the front hairline. Texas barber exam hair science answer.

Canonical: https://fadejunkie.com/practice/hair-science/cowlick-tuft-of-hair  
Last updated: 2026-08-11

**The answer is a cowlick. A cowlick is a tuft of hair that stands up on its own, most common along the front hairline.**

It's different from a whorl, which is hair growing in a circular, swirl pattern (usually at the crown), and from a hair stream, which just describes the general direction hair flows. Vellus hair is unrelated — that's the short, fine, unpigmented hair found elsewhere on the body, not a growth-pattern term at all.

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