'Juǎn fà' literally means 'curled hair' — 卷 (juǎn) means 'to curl, to roll', and 发 (fà) means 'hair'. Together, they form a compound noun referring specifically to naturally curly or intentionally curled hair, as opposed to straight or wavy hair. It describes a physical hair texture or style and is commonly used in daily conversation, beauty contexts, and medical or dermatological discussions about hair types.

The term is neutral in register and appears in both spoken and written Chinese — for instance, in salon consultations ('您想要什么发型？卷发还是直发？'), health articles about scalp conditions, or personal descriptions ('她有一头漂亮的卷发'). Unlike the verb phrase '把头发卷起来' (to curl one’s hair), 卷发 functions exclusively as a noun and does not take aspect markers or object complements.