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facial expression

facial expression

24 1.8
A look or movement on the face that shows feelings
  • noun
  • /ˈfeɪʃəl ɪkˈsprɛʃən/
translation icon : expresión facial
  • During the movie, I watched her facial expression change from excitement to shock.
  • facial expressions and gestures
  • facial expressions and posture
  • facial expressions and tone

I laugh, I cry, I make the facial expressions of the characters.

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Examples

  • The boys were instructed to maintain a neutral facial expression and a natural body posture for these photographs.

    Academic text (1993)
  • Students physically responded to the music through their body movements, voice inflections, and facial expressions.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Eyes are also very important to give a facial expression to the character.

  • ...and it's her facial expression... ...her eyes that makes you think that.

  • John, you have seven different facial expressions.

  • Good facial expressions, if a little forced.

  • And the way we absorb it is from the facial expressions of your parents and the people around you.

  • In other words, facial expressions are not cultural, at least not exclusively cultural.

  • Sociopaths sometimes have trouble reading facial expressions.

  • The child began to read social signals and communicate nonverbally with facial expressions and body language.

    Academic text (2013)

Synonyms

face
vsfacial expression
1.0

The expression that shows a person's feelings

is concentrated on the moving signs that express mood
look
vsfacial expression
1.0

An expression on the face that shows a feeling

is about quick movements rather than longer emotional states
expression
vsfacial expression
315 2.5

A look on the face that shows what someone feels or thinks

is focused on movements of features that show mood
countenance
vsfacial expression
  • Formal
15 7.2

A person's face or the expression on it that shows mood

is narrower, focusing on specific movements that show feelings
facial gesture
vsfacial expression
1 2.9

A movement of the face to show emotion or send a message without words

is broader, covering still appearance as well as muscle movements
look on someone's face
vsfacial expression
2.5

An expression on a person's face that shows their feelings

is about specific movements that display feeling

How Expressive

histrionics
6 9.1
facial expression
24 1.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

facial + expression

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from 'facial' (related to the face) plus 'expression' (a visible sign of feeling), so the compound denotes a look or movement of the face showing emotion. This compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard noun + adjective/headword semantics, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand it.

Etymology

Facial expression is a simple picture: it is how a face 'shows' a person's feelings. The word facial means the face and expression means 'showing', so together they mean a look that tells what someone feels.