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

“Serving in the Army has made me better in every facet of my life — a better husband, father, professional,” Spatola said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

Decades before coaches began to insist their players be 'multi-dimensional' cricketers rather than only contributing in one facet of the game, Sobers was the ultimate all-round sportsman.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 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

"There's one facet of that process in which your mother and I are particularly interested at this particular juncture in your life."

From "Will Grayson, Will Grayson" by John Green and David Levithan

Gloucester, who named three new signings in their starting line-up including Wales internationals Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake, completely outplayed their opponents in all facets of the match.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026

While these facets might depict our tech-obsessed age, Mungiu writes them in a way that makes the Norwegians look silly, and the Gheorghius look like objectively good parents.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 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

However, it had not been my intention to analyse here the various facets of this small episode from years ago.

From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Her fractured, broken, faceted statue is Cubist in structure.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2025

I’m pleased to report that the car’s most beguiling bit of cabin jewelry—the faceted gear selector, like a steampunk gaming cube embedded in the center console—made it through to the latest redesign.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 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 beechwood panels blanketing walls and balcony fronts are faceted to diffuse sound in jazzy patterns that evoke musical staves.

From New York Times ● Sep. 29, 2022

They were cool, measuring, as faceted as finely cut jewels; they traveled over her face methodically, cataloguing her eyelashes, her nose, her mouth, her chin.

From "Ash" by Malinda Lo

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

This will cast gentle natural light by day and uniform illumination by night for the first time on Mark Rothko’s 14 monumental black canvases, faceting the octagonal interior designed as a holistic work of art.

From New York Times ● Feb. 27, 2019

For instance, it’s easy to read visual similarities and divergences in the Cubist faceting of paired landscapes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2016

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

It appears Dupont was making money before the war by faceting spinels into false diamonds for dowagers and baronesses.

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

Recently it has become common to polish the tops of colored stones with a smooth unfacetted, slightly convex surface, the back being facetted in either the brilliant or the step arrangement.

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

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 rubbing down process does not leave a facetted surface, but only a coarse roughly rounded or flattened surface.

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

If almost any clear, colorless facetted stone is placed in the sunlight and a card held before it to receive the reflections, it will be seen that rainbow-like reflections appear on the card.

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

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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