physiognomist

[fiz-ee-ahg-nuhm-ist, fiz-ee-ahn-uhm-ist]

noun

1. a person who practices or has expertise in the art of physiognomy.

Example Sentences

“So! You are physiognomist. I learn more here with each hour. I am with so much pleasure coming to you to breakfast; and, oh, sir, you will pardon praise from an old man, but you are blessed in your wife.”

Read more on Literature

Darwin almost missed his chance to take his historic voyage on the Beagle on account of his nose, because the captain of the ship—a fervent physiognomist—didn’t believe that a person with such a nose would possess sufficient determination for the journey.

Read more on Scientific American

In her essay Watch and Learn: The Power of Seeing in Jane Eyre and Villette, Angela Keithsuggests that Jane herself is a physiognomist, able to marshal what Michel Foucault called the “clinical gaze” to obtain “an exhaustive, clear, and complete reading” of those around her.

Read more on Slate

His countenance was fine and impressive, though, perhaps, it might not have afforded to a very scrutinising physiognomist any indication of the highest qualities of the human mind.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

A blunt physiognomist would probably have declared that there was not enough of the devil in her to fire the blood even of an impetuous, generous boy and urge him on to recklessness.

Read more on Project Gutenberg