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stoniness of gaze

stoniness of gaze

8.6
A hard, emotionless look that shows someone will not change their mind
  • noun
translation icon : mirada fría
  • The stoniness of her gaze made it clear that she would not compromise.

Examples

  • Her voice faltered when she met the stoniness of his gaze across the table.

  • Under the stoniness of his gaze, everyone in the room fell silent.

  • Her stoniness of gaze made it difficult to read her emotions.

  • The detective noticed the stoniness of gaze in the suspect's eyes.

  • The stoniness of his gaze reflected his determination to remain indifferent to the criticism.

  • Everyone felt intimidated by the stoniness of her gaze during the meeting, as she seemed completely unapproachable.

  • She tried to remain calm, but the stoniness of his gaze made her feel uneasy and judged.

Synonyms

straight face
vsstoniness of gaze
34 3.9

A face that shows no feeling, often to avoid laughing

is a rigid eye expression implying coldness rather than held back amusement
poker face
vsstoniness of gaze
  • Informal
12 4.8

A face that shows no feeling so others cannot tell what you feel

is an unyielding eye expression usually not used to hide feelings
cold stare
vsstoniness of gaze
2 4.6

A fixed unfriendly look that shows anger or disapproval

is emotionless and unyielding but not necessarily hostile or angry
sober look
vsstoniness of gaze
1 5.1

A serious face that shows little or no emotion

is harder and more emotionless in the eyes than simple seriousness
emotionlessness
vsstoniness of gaze
1 8.5

A lack of visible feeling or reaction

is a stubbornly cold eye expression more about look than feeling state
stoniness
vsstoniness of gaze
7.1

A hard, cold way of acting that shows no emotion

focuses on an unyielding look in the eyes rather than whole face
flinty gaze
vsstoniness of gaze
7.6

A hard, cold look that shows no feeling

is cold and emotionless in the eyes but not always stern or harsh
steely-eyed focus
vsstoniness of gaze
7.0

Strong, steady attention that shows determination

is similar but expresses lack of feeling rather than determined focus
expressionlessness
vsstoniness of gaze
7.4

No feeling shown on a person's face, voice, or actions

focuses specifically on an unyielding eye look rather than overall neutrality
unemotionality
vsstoniness of gaze
8.3

A state of showing little or no feeling

is a hard unyielding eye expression rather than a broad emotional trait
stolidity
vsstoniness of gaze
9.9

A lack of strong feeling or emotion when something happens

is specific to a cold fixed eye look rather than general unresponsiveness
stolidness
vsstoniness of gaze
9.1

A state of not showing strong feelings when good or bad things happen

is a visibly hard eye expression not merely calm indifference
impassiveness
vsstoniness of gaze
7.9

A lack of visible emotion

is an unyielding cold gaze that centers on the eyes rather than wider calm

Antonyms

41 3.4

Showing feelings and ideas clearly in the face or voice

How Emotionless

stoniness of gaze
8.6
cold stare
2 4.6

Surface Forms

Morphology

stoniness + of + gaze

The meaning is directly compositional: 'stoniness' (emotional hardness) applied to 'gaze' (a look) yields an emotionless or unyielding look, so the overall sense is derivable from the constituents. The 'stone' metaphor for hardness and the 'X of Y' modifier pattern are cross-linguistically common, making this phrase immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows the component words.

Etymology

Stoniness of gaze comes from the image of someone's eyes being like hard, cold stone. Here stoniness means stone-like hardness and gaze is the look, so the phrase means 'a firm, emotionless look'.