facet

American  

[fas-it] / ˈfæs ɪt /

noun

• facets
  plural

1. a small, polished, flat surface, usually in the shape of a polygon, such as one of the surfaces of a cut gem.

2. a smooth, flat surface cut on a fragment of rock by the action of water, windblown sand, etc.

3. aspect; phase.

   They carefully examined every facet of the argument.

4. Architecture. any of the faces of a column cut in a polygonal form.

5. Zoology. one of the corneal lenses of a compound arthropod eye.

6. Anatomy. a small, smooth, flat area on a hard surface, especially on a bone.

7. Dentistry. a small, highly burnished area, usually on the enamel surface of a tooth, produced by abrasion between opposing teeth in chewing.

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verb (used with object)

faceted, faceting, facetted, facetting

1. to cut facets on.

facet British  

/ ˈfæsɪt /

noun

1. any of the surfaces of a cut gemstone

2. an aspect or phase, as of a subject or personality

3. architect the raised surface between the flutes of a column

4. any of the lenses that make up the compound eye of an insect or other arthropod

5. anatomy any small smooth area on a hard surface, as on a bone

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verb

1. (tr) to cut facets in (a gemstone)

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• facets
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of facet

First recorded in 1615–25, from the French facette “little face”; see face ( def. ), -ette ( )

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Explanation

A facet is one side or aspect of something. If you’re thinking about quitting your day job to become a circus performer, you should first consider every facet of what your new life would be like. Facet, which is related to the word face, can also refer to one of the flat “faces” of a diamond or other gem. This was the word’s original definition, and it was evidently seen as an apt metaphor for one side of a complex idea. When a problem has many parts to consider (or when it’s just a huge mess), you can describe it as multifaceted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

facet facets faceted faceting facetted facetting

It is unusual to see a traveling exhibition at two venues—rarer still to find each setting evoking such a different facet of an artist’s sensibility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Because you’re so involved with every facet of “Colin,” how was it to just go in and be an actor for “Last Seen”?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

In France, Yuka is one facet of a wider food-tracking phenomenon.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

As law, policy and regulation have penetrated deeper into every facet of life, the First Amendment right “to petition the government for the redress of grievances” has become of utmost importance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

All my life, the pageant has invaded every facet of my world, except for this room.

From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy

But in the AI age I think so-called effort signaling will become increasingly important as a way of showing care across all facets of society.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

There are so many interesting facets of this story, and I wish that the film would have taken the time and the care to tell them.

From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026

But lately, there’s been a greater appreciation for the various facets of Microsoft’s business.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

While those two careers couldn’t be any more different, with the skill and determination it takes to do both it’s no wonder she’s been able to score big in multiple facets of life lately.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The imagination is one of our most mysterious facets.

From "History of Art, Volume 1" by H.W. Janson

Alongside his own survey of Mont Blanc published in a monumental chromolithograph is his modest diagram of its underlying crystalline structure, as if it were a faceted gem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

The workers check and replace the large plastic bulbs on the long strings of lights and then use pulleys and hoists to hang and sometimes muscle those long strands of faceted lights onto the branches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2025

In a moment of great danger, “the bergs are many, lavender and faceted, when the air is full of floating ice crystals.”

From Scientific American ● Aug. 20, 2023

The video is one of 40 works that make up “Water Memories,” a poetically faceted pocket-size show about the material and symbolic role of water in Native American life.

From New York Times ● Jul. 3, 2022

I quickly examined the Crystal Key, tilting it up to study its glittering, faceted surface.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

The cubist faceting of both figures and ground gives each panel a density of surface and a propulsive, lilting energy, like swing jazz but with spiked edges.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 23, 2020

Here she has done a good job of sculpting and faceting the building’s shape, such that from some angles it might be thought to soar.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 6, 2015

The most remarkable here in terms of size and faceting include the exquisitely simple “Shah Jahan Diamond” and the startlingly kaleidoscopic brilliant-cut stone known as the Idol’s Eye.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2015

The figures are rendered in a self-consciously arty style — call it "mass-market modern" — that is a kind of Cubist faceting squashed flat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2014

He examines a copy of Streeters Precious Stones and Gems; drawings of cleavage panes; trigonometric charts used for faceting.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Kerans watches the "countless reflections of the sun move across the surface in huge sheets of fire, like the blazing facetted eyes of gigantic insects".

From The Guardian ● Jul. 13, 2012

Large quantities of hornblende are also met with at Levesque Harbor, Bellot Strait, composed of facetted crystals agglutinated together into large masses, forming a crystalline hornblendic gneiss.

From In the Arctic Seas A Narrative of the Discovery of the Fate of Sir John Franklin and his Companions by Francis Leopold McClintock

The polishing of stones, whether cabochon or facetted, is accomplished by the use of very finely powdered abrasives such as corundum powder, tripoli, pumice, putty powder, etc.

From A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public by Frank Bertram Wade

When completely facetted the brilliant is finished and requires only to be cleaned, when it is ready for sale.

From A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public by Frank Bertram Wade

A facetted carbuncle accompanied by ten little twinkling emeralds; &c. &c.

From A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas Hardy

In general, however, the slitting or cleaving, the rubbing down to shape, the smoothing out of all scratches and the facetting and polishing are done somewhat similarly by all lapidaries.

From A Text-Book of Precious Stones for Jewelers and the Gem-Loving Public by Frank Bertram Wade

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