facial expression

English

Noun

facial expression (plural facial expressions)

1. A particular configuration of the facial muscles that conveys certain emotions or intentions.
   • 1883, David Christie Murray, Hearts, Volume 3, page 2:

     But the yokel, being a yokel, was not good at the reading of facial expression, and only knew that a remarkably fine woman had gone by smiling.

   • 2003, Paul Collins, Sixpence House, page 140:

     The sullen clerk there did not return my greetings or my farewell, did not say a word, and did not show a single facial expression except irritation that I had interrupted his customerless routine.

   • 2017, Jennifer S. Holland, For These Monkeys, It’s a Fight for Survival., National Geographic (March 2017)

     Facial expressions convey moods: Ritualized yawning—which starts with an oval mouth that breaks into a gaping one as the animal flings its head back—suggests tension.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:facial expression

Translations

expression or countenance that seems to an onlooker to be represented by the appearance of a person's face

Afrikaans: gesigsuitdrukking Armenian: դիմախաղ (hy) (dimaxaġ) Danish: ansigtsudtryk n Dutch: gezichtsuitdrukking (nl) f, gelaatsuitdrukking (nl) f Esperanto: mieno Finnish: ilme (fi) Galician: expresión facial f German: Gesichtsausdruck (de) m, Miene (de) f Hungarian: arckifejezés (hu) Icelandic: svipur m Italian: espressione facciale f Norwegian: Bokmål: ansiktsuttrykk n Nynorsk: andletsuttrykk, ansiktsuttrykk n Polish: mina (pl) f, wyraz twarzy (pl) Portuguese: expressão facial f Russian: выраже́ние лица́ (ru) n (vyražénije licá), ми́мика (mímika) Spanish: mueca (es) f, mohín (es) m Swedish: min (sv) c, ansiktsuttryck (sv) n Turkish: yüz ifadesi (tr) Ukrainian: ви́раз обли́ччя m (výraz oblýččja) Vietnamese: thần thái (vi)

Further reading

• facial expression on Wikipedia.Wikipedia