Sideburns are patches of facial hair grown on the sides of a man's face, extending from the hairline to below the ears and worn with an unbearded chin. The term "sideburns" is a 19th century corruption of the original burnsides, named after American Civil War general Ambrose Burnside, a man known for his unusual facial hairstyle that connected thick sideburns by way of a moustache but left the chin clean-shaven. In British slang, sideburns are referred to as "bugger's grips" perhaps subversively alluding to the ruling class and the British Navy.

Sideburns are hardly restricted to any particular length or shape, and a number of variations can be found throughout history — they can be thin or wide, voluptuous or neatly-trimmed; be cropped flat, flare out, or end in a point; end at mid-ear or further down the jawline. The word "Sideburns" is also a broad term that encompasses several other distinct types of facial hair, such as Mutton Chops and Friendly Mutton Chops. Mutton Chops are sideburns named for their mutton-like shape as they extend down to the corner of the mouth, while Friendly Mutton Chops connect both sideburns with a "friendly" moustache — a style of facial hair not unlike the one worn by Burnside.

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