countenance
Americannoun
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appearance, especially the look or expression of the face.
a sad countenance.
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the face; visage.
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calm facial expression; composure.
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approval or favor; encouragement; moral support.
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Obsolete. bearing; behavior.
verb (used with object)
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to permit or tolerate.
You should not have countenanced his rudeness.
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to approve, support, or encourage.
idioms
noun
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the face, esp when considered as expressing a person's character or mood
a pleasant countenance
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support or encouragement; sanction
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composure; self-control (esp in the phrases keep or lose one's countenance; out of countenance )
verb
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to support or encourage; sanction
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to tolerate; endure
Related Words
See face.
Other Word Forms
- countenancer noun
- uncountenanced adjective
- undercountenance noun
Etymology
Origin of countenance
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English cuntenaunce “behavior, bearing, self-control,” from Anglo-French cuntena(u)nce, Old French contenance, from Medieval Latin “way of living, demeanor,” from Latin continentia “self-control, restraint”; continence
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.
The aim, colleges and advisers explain, is to probe how well students can countenance other viewpoints.
The goal is to immerse yourself as the sun rises, its immense fiery countenance parallel along the horizon to your shivering little head.
But this flexibility with the case’s facts is one of many acts of distancing that aid in countenancing the unthinkable.
From Salon
"Perhaps some listeners will view it as too personal to countenance. Or perhaps fans who have grown up alongside Allen, now 40, will find something profoundly relatable in the story it has to tell."
From BBC
Reflecting on the decision, Georgia says the group couldn't countenance "singing Nothing Matters and dancing around in our outfits at a place where a flag is seen as an act of political violence".
From BBC
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.
