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• 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?

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

Behind the facade, though, something very different was going on.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

On Aug. 5, Betancourt strode into a conference room behind the art deco facade of the old Greyhound Bus Terminal in downtown Washington that houses an auxiliary Pentagon office.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

An AFP photographer on Thursday saw that the diplomatic emblem and a plaque that adorned the consulate's facade had been removed.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 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

The council said the building's 19th Century façade had been "fully stabilised" with supporting steel beams, while the eastern gable was reduced in height by almost two metres in order to make it secure.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Munich's Allianz Arena is sculpted by thousands of diamond-shaped inflatable cushions, while Sydney's similarly-named Allianz Stadium has a flatter façade smoothed with long bronze fins.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2026

Designed by Gaudí, the Nativity façade is both naturalistic and overflowing with natural imagery: lilies and palm trees, a tortoise and sea turtle, insects and frogs, sheep and ducks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Still pending are the sculpting of the south-facing Glory façade, the eventual front of the church, celebrating Christ triumphant, and the addition of a grand entrance staircase envisioned by Gaudí.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Huge Greek medallions showed in spots of light upon its façade, above a dark labyrinthine pattern in the stone, and I propped her against the stoop with its carved stone monster.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

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

Not only that, but a lot of “Love Story” takes place behind the public facades of Kennedy and Bessette, in the offices of Calvin Klein and inside Kennedy’s Tribeca loft.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 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

Then, if the system is visible from the street, local officials can refuse if it mars the iconic, limestone facades of the city’s Haussmannian buildings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

Tudor facades, tiny metal balconies, wood chips under the stairs.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

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