Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to pull faces

to pull faces

1 6.3
Make funny faces to amuse or annoy people
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : hacer muecas
  • And then they whine and pull faces that no one watches them.

Everybody obviously was dead curious and you know, people pulling faces and, and just trying to put them off really.

Examples

  • She loves to pull faces in photos to amuse her friends.

  • Everybody obviously was dead curious and you know, people pulling faces and, and just trying to put them off really.

    Anything Goes With James English

  • I used to drive my mum mad, pulling faces.

    Secrets & Lies (1996)

  • He pulled faces and made insulting gestures every time Ua's eyes might be on him.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The clown pulled faces to entertain the children at the party.

  • During the movie, my friend kept pulling faces to make me laugh.

Synonyms

to pout
vsto pull faces
41 3.4

To push out your lips to show that you are annoyed or disappointed

is more exaggerated and playful, used to amuse or irritate others
to grimace
vsto pull faces
29 4.4

To twist your face to show pain, disgust, or a forced smile

is more playful and exaggerated, aiming to amuse rather than show real pain
to make a face
vsto pull faces
18 3.2

Move parts of your face to show dislike, pain, or to be funny

is more playful and exaggerated, often done to amuse or annoy
to wrinkle one's nose
vsto pull faces
4 6.0

To move the nose so it makes small lines to show you do not like something

is more exaggerated and playful, often meant to amuse or annoy people
to pull a face
vsto pull faces
  • Informal
1 5.5

Make a face to show dislike or discomfort

is more playful and exaggerated to amuse or annoy others

How Expressive

to contort
17 7.5
to grimace
29 4.4
to pull faces
  • UK
1 6.3

Surface Forms

pull faces infinitive
pulled faces past
pulled faces past participle
pulling faces present participle
pulls faces third person singular

Morphology

pull + face

The meaning is readily inferable from the parts: 'pull' evokes changing or tugging and 'face' refers to facial expression, so learners can picture contorting one’s face and predict it means making funny or exaggerated expressions. Though 'pull' is used metaphorically rather than literally, the compositional image is straightforward and cross-linguistically supported (many languages have equivalent "make/make faces" constructions), making it predictable for a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Pull faces comes from the simple picture of someone using their hands or muscles to pull their faces into strange, funny shapes. That's why it now means making very strange or silly looks 'to amuse' or 'to annoy' other people.