facade

or fa·çade

[ fuh-sahd, fa- ]
See synonyms for facade on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Architecture.

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

    • 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.

Origin of facade

1
First recorded in 1650–60; from French, from Upper Italian faciada, Italian facciata, equivalent to facci(a) face + -ata -ade1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use facade in a sentence

  • Overhead, between two facades, one saw a strip of paleness which one knew was the moonlit sky.

    Simon the Jester | William J. Locke
  • Their facades showed fantasies of weather sculpture that looked like ruined castles and cathedrals with cave mouths for entrances.

    Rimrock Trail | J. Allan Dunn
  • These modern buildings, topped with slate or lead roofs and ornamented with sculptured facades, become every day more numerous.

  • They have illuminated the facades, women are dancing beneath the sparkling chandeliers.

    The Downfall | Emile Zola
  • Facades of public buildings were formed for the day of radiant human faces.

British Dictionary definitions for façade

façade

facade

/ (fəˈsɑːd, fæ-) /


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

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

Origin of façade

1
C17: from French, from Italian facciata, from faccia face

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012