Jump To:

• facade
  facade
• façade
  façade

  noun

  the face of a building, esp the main front

Trivia Time

What style of architecture featured light, asymmetrical, and elaborate facades?

Test Your Knowledge

facade

American  

[fuh-sahd, fa-] / fəˈsɑd, fæ- /

Or façade

noun

• facades
  plural

1. Architecture.

   1. 

      the front of a building, especially an imposing or decorative one.

   2. any side of a building facing a public way or space and finished accordingly.

2. a superficial appearance or illusion of something.

   They managed somehow to maintain a facade of wealth.

---

façade British  

/ fəˈsɑːd, fæ- /

noun

1. the face of a building, esp the main front

2. a front or outer appearance, esp a deceptive one

---

Usage

What does facade mean? A facade is the front of a building or a side that faces a public area. Facade is used literally to describe a decorative, showy, or onrate piece of architecture that frames the front of a building, as in The architect who designed this building used a showy facade on it to help it stand out from nearby buildings. A facade is also a superficial appearance or an illusion, which can be literal or figurative. If a movie star wears a dark hoodie and sunglasses so they won’t be recognized by the press, they are wearing a literal facade. If that movie star acts completely different from who they actually are or puts on an alternate personality in order to trick or convince people of something, that is a figurative facade. Example: He continually lied to keep up his facade until the whole thing stumbled out of control.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• facades
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of facade

First recorded in 1650–60; from French, from Upper Italian faciada, Italian facciata, equivalent to facci(a) face + -ata -ade ¹

---

Explanation

A facade is the front of a building, or a kind of front people put up emotionally. If you're mad but acting happy, you're putting up a facade. This word has to do with the outer layer of something. One sense has to do with the front or outside of a building. The other meaning has to do with people who are hiding something. In both cases, the facade could be deceiving. A building with a gorgeous facade isn't necessarily gorgeous inside. A person putting on a facade is definitely putting on a front: the face they're showing to the world doesn't match how they're feeling.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

facade façade facades

That includes erecting a massive electronic sign on its facade intended to bring a flavor of Times Square to Figueroa Street.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026

This time, I've noticed that under the facade of unity, there's a brewing fight.

From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026

The project also includes restoration of the facade and polishing of its famous stainless steel crown.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

The facade of the building betrays no affiliation—neither hammer nor sickle.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

He pulled over in front of a large marble building, the facade covered in city grime but still beautiful.

From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan

A spokesperson said the regulator was "working closely with the applicant to secure approval for proposed remediation works to a non-compliant wall façade originally identified in 2020 prior to BSR being formed".

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

Today, visitors enter via the ornate Nativity façade, on the church’s eastern side.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Mocked by some as the “Darth Vader” façade for its bizarrely helmeted Roman soldiers, the Passion façade embodies the New Testament story of betrayal, suffering and transcendence in angular, expressionistic figures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

A planning application, lodged in March, would have seen the building clad in a false façade including an advertising screen to hide building work prior to the fire.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

In these cases, race had been an embellishment, a façade tacked onto a superstructure of class.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

But most insistently, the interstitial visuals are cinematographer Szor’s night shots of apartment facades in modern Tel Aviv: citizens at rest with their loved ones, working out or eating in front of their televisions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

He’d return with images of abandoned stairwells, dilapidated neon signage, Art Deco theater facades, boiler room control valves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026

Designed to blend into the historic Baroque park, they are notable for their curved ceramic facades, daylight from skylights, accessibility features, drinking fountains -- and free use.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

Bogota Mayor Carlos Galan said on Blu Radio that damage in the national capital appeared to be limited to cracks in the facades of houses and buildings.

From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026

Their corners were vague, their facades streaked, dewed, smeared.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---