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.
There was no way Ratcliffe would countenance extending that at a time when he is determined to cut costs and bring the wage bill down.
From BBC
Over time, you can see that he has come to believe that the problems of the country need something more radical than either of the traditional big parties are prepared to countenance.
From BBC
Investors attribute his popularity to his frequent public appearances, unflappable countenance and the Fed’s role in what has been a historic bull run for asset prices.
His Marat has the “seraphic countenance” and clear skin, Mr. Crow tells us, of a “secular martyr.”
For “what else has a council ever been,” the pope asked, “but a renewal of this meeting with the countenance of the risen Christ?”
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.
