hatchet face

noun

1. a thin face with sharp features.

Other Word Forms

• hatchet-faced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hatchet face¹

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

“Toni-eeeeee...” hoof beats clattered on the concrete and the hatchet face of the Kid passed me by.

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I imagine Miss Anderson tossing the letters into the fireplace, her hatchet face smiling evilly, and a white-hot rage seizes me so firmly that I’m half afraid I might murder someone just to watch them die.

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I recall both students and teachers talking at recess about watching the evening news the night before, which usually began with the police sketch of Ramirez’s hatchet face and long curly hair, and being unable to move from their chairs.

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Rather tall, very angular, surprisingly awkward, with thin, staggering legs, a hatchet face adorned with scraggy gray whiskers, a faculty for falling into the most ungainly attitudes, and making the most hideous contortions of visage and frame; with a rough provincial accent and an uncouth way of speaking, which would be set down for absurd caricature on the boards of a comic theatre; such was the appearance which the author of "Glaucus" and "Hypatia" presented to his startled audience.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

This man who aspired to be chancellor, and as such to direct the Privy Council, was dark, of middle height, with a sharp hatchet face and oblique cast of eye.

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