as bald as a coot

A

as bald as a coot

Meaning

• Totally bald.
• An appearance of being completely bald, that is, without any hair on the head.

Example Sentences

1. She is in remission now but the Chemo Therapy has left her as bald as a coot.
2. He keeps shaving his head every summer and likes to look as bald as a coot. He says it cools him down to not have hair on the head.
3. After visiting the religious site they shave their heads and become as bald as a coot. It is a part of the ritual without which the pilgrimage is not considered complete.
4. I visited her today to find that she is as bald as a coot. She is quite bold to have taken such a step since women use their hair to make themselves look pretty.

Origin

A coot is a water bird which has marking on its head that gives it an appearance of being bald. It does have feathers on his head but it is the way it looks from a distance that gives this expression its shape.

This phrase has been in existence since several centuries with the first literary use being in 1430 in ‘Chronicle of Troy’ written by John Lydgate.