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. 14.5 centimetres (5.7 in). The strikingly patterned males have predominantly white plumage. With the exception of the white little wings coverts, the wings are black as the tail. From the frontal tuft, over the crown, down to the middle back runs a carmine red patch. The iris is red. The females are mainly olive green and have pale green upperparts. They have a reduced olive green frontal tuft.
This species consumes both plant and animal materials as part of their diet. Approximately 80% of their diet comes from the plant Clidemia biserrata. Araripe Manakins consume fruit and arthropods, although fruits are the primary item in their diet. Females have a more diverse diet than males, because the more cryptic olive-green plumage of females provides them with a greater degree of camouflage in forests, allowing them to find food with less predation, meanwhile, males are a very bright white color, which makes them more vulnerable to predation. Females also have a longer bill, which allows them to manipulate more types of fruit than males can able to handle and digest.