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

Etymology

Origin of facet

First recorded in 1615–25, from the French facette “little face”; see face ( def. ), -ette ( )

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

In a world where artificial intelligence threatens to upend every facet of work and life, some things still remain sacred.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

In France, Yuka is one facet of a wider food-tracking phenomenon.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

Gans wrote about this facet of the history recently in Slate.

From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026

In a show built around characters who fought to obscure nearly every facet of their true inner lives, Maddy was refreshingly, sometimes brutally herself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 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

A glance at Scheffler's record shows metronomic consistency across all facets of his game.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Then there are all the facets of his campaign that remind us he’s new here, that he’s maybe just throwing spaghetti at the wall.

From Slate ● Jun. 18, 2026

And do you have a plan to address the many other facets of superaging, including the possible need for home care or assisted living?

From Barron's ● May 21, 2026

Real radicalism is accepting the discomfort; it’s acknowledging that two or more things can coexist, and addressing all of those facets at once, even if the result isn’t perfect.

From Salon ● Apr. 3, 2026

Shay’s long-range hoverboard was thicker, and glimmered with the facets of solar cells.

From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld

Alongside his own survey of Mont Blanc published in a monumental chromolithograph is his modest diagram of its underlying crystalline structure, as if it were a faceted gem.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 18, 2026

The workers check and replace the large plastic bulbs on the long strings of lights and then use pulleys and hoists to hang and sometimes muscle those long strands of faceted lights onto the branches.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 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

His faceted figures and faces in particular are astonishing made things that reach back through Cubism to the carved figures of African sculpture.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023

I quickly examined the Crystal Key, tilting it up to study its glittering, faceted surface.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

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

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

The most remarkable here in terms of size and faceting include the exquisitely simple “Shah Jahan Diamond” and the startlingly kaleidoscopic brilliant-cut stone known as the Idol’s Eye.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2015

The figures are rendered in a self-consciously arty style — call it "mass-market modern" — that is a kind of Cubist faceting squashed flat.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2014

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

When completely facetted the brilliant is finished and requires only to be cleaned, when it is ready for sale.

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

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 Wade, Frank Bertram

The polishing of stones, whether cabochon or facetted, is accomplished by the use of very finely powdered abrasives such as corundum powder, tripoli, pumice, putty powder, etc.

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

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 Wade, Frank Bertram

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 Wade, Frank Bertram