dogface expression
- noun
:
expresión de perro
- With a practiced dogface expression, she persuaded her parents to let her stay out late.
Examples
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She gave him a dogface expression when asking for a favor.
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She gave me a dogface expression when I said no.
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His dogface expression was impossible to resist, just like a puppy's.
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I can't resist that dogface expression from my puppy!
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His dogface expression was so sweet that everyone wanted to give him a treat.
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She always uses a dogface expression to get what she wants from her parents.
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Whenever he wants extra attention, he puts on his best dogface expression.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
The expression that shows a person's feelings
315
2.5
A look on the face that shows what someone feels or thinks
24
1.8
A look or movement on the face that shows feelings
A silly loving face people make to amuse or show love to a baby
Antonyms
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
dogface + expression
Although 'dogface' is not listed in the dictionary entry, it is transparently analyzable as dog + face, yielding 'a face like a dog'. Combined with 'expression', the phrase clearly denotes a facial expression resembling a dog's pleading or affectionate look; this compositional animal-metaphor is common cross-linguistically and a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun dogface expression may come from the simple picture of a dog with big, soft eyes begging for food or attention. Because dogface means a face like a dog and expression means a look, the phrase now means a sweet or 'pleading' look used to get sympathy or a favor.