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Glite Dictionary
👤 No identity 🎭 No face shown
facelessness

facelessness

1 7.1
Lack of identity that makes people or things seem unknown
  • noun
  • /ˈfeɪsləsnəs/
translation icon : anonimato
  • In the crowd, there was a sense of facelessness as everyone wore similar clothing and masks to conceal their identities.

Examples

  • Is it seen more in Levinas's notion of the "face" of the absolute other, or in the problem of "faciality" raised by Deleuze and shown, for example, in the facelessness of Bacon's figures?

    Academic text (1998)

  • To play with nobody, with nobody's unrecognizable facelessness especially, is to begin to renegotiate the identity of the gentleman and to begin to reconsider the particular forms of inequality that authorized this figure.

    Academic text (2016)

  • When PH's film contained only anonymous people, whose facelessness was magnified within the masses gathered in public space, it was found wholly unacceptable in Denmark.

    Academic text (1999)

  • Thus, we have a relationship among centers rather than a rearranged aesthetic caste system, multicultural facelessness, or forced assimilation.

    Academic text (1994)

  • The facelessness of the online community made it difficult for members to connect with each other personally.

  • Many artists explore themes of facelessness in their work to comment on the loss of individuality in modern society.

Synonyms

anonymity
vsfacelessness
106 6.5

Being unknown so other people do not know who you are

emphasizes lack of individuality and not being identifiable
depersonalization
vsfacelessness
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A person feels detached from themselves and their identity

describes external lack of individuality or being unidentifiable rather than internal detachment
namelessness
vsfacelessness
1 7.4

A situation when a person or thing has no name and is not known

focuses on missing individuality and being unidentifiable rather than only missing a label

Antonyms

individuality
39 4.6

Qualities that make someone or something different from others

recognizability
  • Specialized
7.9

How easily a computer program can identify a pattern or information

How Distinctive

recognizability
  • US
1 5.1
facelessness
1 7.1
anonymity
106 6.5

Surface Forms

facelessness singular
facelessnesses plural

Morphology

facelessness = faceless (semi-transparent) = face + less + ness

The morphology (face + -less + -ness) is clear, but the sense 'lacking individuality or identity' is a metaphorical extension of 'faceless' and may not be fully predictable for all learners.

Etymology

The word facelessness is formed from face, -less, and -ness, so it can mean 'without a face' and more generally 'without identity'. That's why we use facelessness for a crowd, a system, or a building where no single person or feature stands out, like everyone wearing the same blank mask.