mien
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of mien
1505–15; probably aphetic variant of obsolete demean bearing, demean 2; spelled with -ie- to distinguish it from mean 2
Explanation
Your mien is how you present yourself, the impression you make. It's best to keep a low profile but a dignified mien. The source of the word mien is not completely clear, but it does involve a French word for "facial expression." A person's mien is a look or quality that tells a lot about their personalities or temperaments. A person with a cheerful mien probably radiates happiness and energy, while someone with a serious mien may have an air of being lost in thought.
Vocabulary lists containing mien
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
I can’t tell you how he sounds to an Italian, but I was bowled over by Mr. Pine’s woozy, defeated mien.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 16, 2026
It brings me no pleasure to report that Trump possessed the perfect mien for the performance of wrestling.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Squinting in the morning sun, she had bat ears, a downturned mouth and the mien of a pissed-off mother-in-law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025
Schaeffer, who has the mien of Marine drill instructor, is animated and intense.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2025
In deference to the glad occasion, his foot kept the rhythm of the dance and his usually stem mien was softened.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Played with hangdog miens by the gifted Mr. Dossett and Mr. Sills, these men soon betray their bosses and switch sides.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2016
The cheerful, demonstrative callowness of Herring’s Joey makes for an apt-enough contrast with the miens of the older figures, and Carpenter’s Mark is a sensitive, thoughtful foil to everyone else.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 5, 2015
Here were traditional outsiders, some of them outspoken victims of childhood bullying, who, twenty years ago, were dismissed by the jock establishment for bringing their alternative fashion sense and disaffected miens to an Olympic-style competition.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 17, 2014
Instead sharp beaks, rough-hewed black feathers and wary miens define the latest creations from Handspring Puppet Company: crows, a far cry from the majestic title creatures in “War Horse,” a hit here and on Broadway.
From New York Times ● Jul. 6, 2012
Their manners and miens reflected the Spartan personal discipline the organization demanded, and none of them would utter anything but Nation of Islam cliches.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
