face
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
faysIPA pronunciation (US)
feɪs
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
anatomy
The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
“That girl has a pretty face.”
An aspect of the character or nature of someone or something.
“Poverty is the ugly face of capitalism.”
A headlining wrestler with a persona embodying heroic or virtuous traits and who is regarded as a "good guy", especially one who is handsome and well-conditioned; a baby face.
“The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.”
A familiar or well-known person; a member of a particular scene, such as music or fashion scene.
“He owned several local businesses and was a face around town.”
Good reputation; standing in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige.
Presence; sight; front.
verb
of a person or animal
To position oneself or itself so as to have one's face closest to (something).
To cause (something) to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction.
of an object
To have its front closest to, or in the direction of (something else).
“Turn the chair so it faces the table.”
To be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.
To have the front in a certain direction.
“The seats in the carriage faced backwards.”
To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
Used this way, face is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
“That girl has a pretty face.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Frontnoun
“That girl has a pretty face.”
Aspectnoun
“Poverty is the ugly face of capitalism.”
Headliningnoun
“The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.”
Familiarnoun
“He owned several local businesses and was a face around town.”
More ways to use face
- “He looked out at a roomful of faces.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Having a face or facing especially of a specified kind or number.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Without a face or identity.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Perform cosmetic surgery on someone's face.
A renovation that improves the outward appearance (as of a building) but usually does not involve major changes.
Mask that provides a protective covering for the face in such sports as baseball or football or hockey.
A hostile disagreement face-to-face.
A cream that cleanses and tones the skin.
Cosmetic powder for the face.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Plastic surgery to remove wrinkles and other signs of aging from your face.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API (CC BY-SA 3.0). Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.