As typical of most manakins, males and females have a strong sexual dimorphism in the colours of the plumage. As in the helmeted manakin, it is a relatively large and long-tailed manakin, with a total length of c. . The strikingly patterned males have predominantly white plumage.
Manakins, like most species of manakins, exhibit a strong sexual dimorphism in their plumage coloration.  The helmeted manakin is a large and long-tailed manakin with a length of approximately . The males have striking white plumage patterns.