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goo-goo face

goo-goo face

9.9
A silly loving face people make to amuse or show love to a baby
  • noun
  • /ˈɡuːˌɡuː feɪs/
  • Baby Talk
translation icon : cara de goo-goo
  • She made a goo-goo face at the baby to make him laugh.

Examples

  • He couldn't resist pulling a goo-goo face when he saw the puppy.

  • Whenever she talks to her cat, she puts on that ridiculous goo-goo face.

  • She made a goo-goo face at the baby.

  • Why do you always make a goo-goo face?

  • She made a goo-goo face at the baby to make him laugh.

  • He couldn't resist pulling a goo-goo face when he saw the puppy.

  • Whenever she talks to her cat, she puts on that ridiculous goo-goo face.

Synonyms

dogface expression
vsgoo-goo face
8.4

A face people make to look like a puppy when they ask for something

is sillier and more exaggerated especially to entertain infants
pig face
vsgoo-goo face
  • Informal
9.3

A silly face that looks like a pig to make people laugh

is more affectionate and aimed to amuse or charm babies

Antonyms

6 6.8

Act without showing pain or strong feelings when things are hard

A calm, quiet way of behaving that shows you are thinking about important things

How Affectionate

goo-goo face
  • Baby Talk
9.9
smoochy-woochy glance
  • Informal
9.9
warm smile
4 1.0
big smile
47 1.0
smile
1.0

Surface Forms

goo-goo face singular
goo-goo faces plural

Morphology

goo-goo + face

The noun 'face' is transparent, but 'goo-goo' is a nonstandard onomatopoeic baby-talk item rather than a regular lexical morpheme, so the exact affectionate/exaggerated meaning must be inferred from register and cultural usage. A B1 learner who recognizes 'goo-goo' as baby-talk could guess it denotes a silly/affectionate facial expression directed at a baby, but that inference requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge and is not fully predictable from the parts alone.

Etymology

The phrase goo-goo face comes from the baby sound 'goo-goo' that adults copy while making a funny face to make a baby smile. That's why it now means a silly, very affectionate expression.