Headscarves or head scarves or scarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as for warmth, for sanitation, for fashion or social distinction; with religious significance, to hide baldness, out of modesty, or other forms of social convention.

Headscarves may have specific religious significance. Observant married Jewish women, for example, are required to cover their hair, often employing scarves, known as tichels or snoods, in compliance with the code of modesty known as tzniut.^{[citation needed]}

Headscarves were also worn by married Christian women in medieval Europe, and even by some of the unmarried.^{[citation needed]} This headcovering habit is better known as a wimple in English.^{[citation needed]}

Headscarves and veils are most commonly used by Observant Muslim women. The Muslim religious dress include burqa, chador, niqab, dupatta, and others. The Arabic word hijab, which refers to modest behaviour or dress in general, is often used to describe the headscarf worn by Muslim women.^{[citation needed]} The hijab is worn for religious purposes. Some reasons for Muslim women wearing the hijab would be for modesty and allowing a woman to be judged by her morals, character, and ideals instead of her appearance.^{[citation needed]} A "head dress" could also be worn by men. The most common, keffiyeh, is worn by men (most commonly Middle Eastern) for cultural purposes rather than religious.^{[citation needed]}