to frown upon
21
4.2
- phrasal verb
- /fraʊn əˈpʌn/
- It's frowned upon in my professional community.
- even frowned upon
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Watch on YouTubeSo it was only frowned upon by some.
- So it was only frowned upon by some.
- So it was almost like frowned upon to take meds.
- OK, but it's actually frowned upon to use global variables.
- It's crazy how people, people from small towns, they frown upon success beyond their bubble.
- If the source of your funds is theft, they frown upon this.
- And killing also is generally frowned upon, you know, put people in prison for that.
- It's free advertising and a lot of people might frown upon that, but the truth is that's why I do it.
- It's like D Jing for games, but it's more frowned upon than current D Jing.
- This guy wants a future that was frowned upon.
- It's like residue of a past decade that looked that frowned upon, that kind of thing.
- I'd box unlicensed show and obviously that was frowned upon.
- So play is not something new, but it's often frowned upon in most of adult working states.
Examples
-
It's crazy how people, people from small towns, they frown upon success beyond their bubble.
-
Although planned ignoring is a standard practice in many educational settings, it may be frowned upon by some administrators.
Academic text (1992) -
Apparently it's still pretty frowned upon by their parents.
-
And if you're trying to do more than one thing, it's often frowned upon.
-
Any attempt to do so is frowned upon by other classmates.
Academic text (2009) -
As I'm sure you can appreciate, suicide is somewhat frowned upon in our profession.
-
Although their commanders frown upon this, they have no formal power to punish students for such behavior.
Academic text (1990) -
Custom, that unwritten law, has for years frowned upon any attempt by a woman to take such a step.
Academic text (1995) -
You know, bicycling for women is still very much frowned upon in Peterskill.
-
Many cultures frown upon public displays of affection between couples.
Synonyms
760
1.9
Refuse to accept someone or something
318
5.1
To say you do not agree with something
305
4.0
To strongly criticize someone or something publicly
159
4.9
To strongly dislike and have no respect for someone or something
80
2.9
To think something is wrong or bad and show it
43
3.5
To feel a very strong dislike for someone or something
30
7.8
To hate something very much
25
5.5
To show dislike and no respect for someone or something
18
2.3
Give someone a worried or angry look to show you do not like them
18
3.9
To show that you do not approve of something, often for social or official reasons
15
6.4
To treat a person or thing as not worthy of respect
3
7.3
Tell someone gently that what they did was wrong
2
5.7
To dislike and not support people or things
1
7.0
To show that you do not agree with or support something
1
9.9
To show that you do not approve and try to stop something
1
9.5
To dislike someone or something
Antonyms
How Disapproving
Surface Forms
Morphology
frown + upon
The verb 'frown' already encodes showing displeasure and 'upon' functions as a prepositional marker for the target, so the combined meaning 'to show disapproval of' is directly derivable from the parts. This compositional pattern (facial expression verb + preposition = disapprove) is common across languages and follows predictable English grammar, making it accessible to a B1 learner who knows the constituents.
Etymology
Frown upon comes from the simple picture of someone making a face: to frown is to pull the eyebrows together and look displeased. If people literally frown upon an action, they show they 'disapprove', so frown upon means 'consider something unacceptable'.