mien
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mien
1505–15; probably aphetic variant of obsolete demean bearing, demean 2; spelled with -ie- to distinguish it from mean 2
Explanation
Your mien is how you present yourself, the impression you make. It's best to keep a low profile but a dignified mien. The source of the word mien is not completely clear, but it does involve a French word for "facial expression." A person's mien is a look or quality that tells a lot about their personalities or temperaments. A person with a cheerful mien probably radiates happiness and energy, while someone with a serious mien may have an air of being lost in thought.
Vocabulary lists containing mien
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
There are now tens of thousands of Iu Mien — pronounced “yoo MEE’-en” — in the U.S., with many attending universities or starting businesses.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 29, 2024
"Our brothers alerted us the last time on Saturday night: 'we don't have food,' they were saying," relative Okiri Mien told reporters angrily at the cemetery.
From Reuters • Nov. 23, 2021
The group was multiethnic — Hay is of Chinese descent, Sakhone Lasaphangthong is Laotian, John Le is Vietnamese and Seng Saephan is Mien, an ethnic group from Southeast Asia.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 19, 2021
But you need to understand what he presented, just a you need to read Mien Kampf to understand Hitler.
From New York Times • Oct. 6, 2017
I drew back in alarm, but Mien was behind me.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
