physiognomy

American  

[fiz-ee-og-nuh-mee, -on-uh-mee] / ˌfɪz iˈɒg nə mi, -ˈɒn ə mi /

noun

• physiognomies
  plural

1. the face or countenance, especially when considered as an index to the character.

   a fierce physiognomy.

2. Also called anthroposcopy.  the art of determining character or personal characteristics from the form or features of the body, especially of the face.

3. the outward appearance of anything, taken as offering some insight into its character.

   the physiognomy of a nation.

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physiognomy British  

/ ˌfɪzɪˈɒnəmɪ, ˌfɪzɪəˈnɒmɪk /

noun

1. a person's features or characteristic expression considered as an indication of personality

2. the art or practice of judging character from facial features

3. the outward appearance of something, esp the physical characteristics of a geographical region

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• physiognomist
  noun
• physiognomic
  adjective
• physiognomical
  adjective
• physiognomonic
  adjective
• physiognomonical
  adjective
• physiognomically
  adverb
• physiognomonically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• physiognomies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of physiognomy

1350–1400; earlier phisognomie, phisiognomie, late Middle English phisonomie < Medieval Latin physionomia, physonomia < Late Greek physiognōmía, syncopated variant of Greek physiognōmonía art of judging a person by his features ( see physio-, gnomon, -y ³); replacing Middle English fisenamie, fisnamie, fisnomie < Middle French fisonomie < Medieval Latin, as above; cf. phiz

Explanation

The word physiognomy means the appearance of someone's face. When traveling in Italy, you may be struck by the pleasing physiognomy of the marble statues sculpted during the Renaissance. The reason physiognomy sounds like it should be something you study in school right after biology, geometry, and astronomy is that people used to think that it was a science by which you could tell someone's character through their facial features. If you've ever read any Nancy Drew stories, you will know how this plays out — anyone with "shifty eyes" is not to be trusted.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

physiognomy physiognomies

He aimed to capture the temperament and character of his sitters as revealed by their physiognomy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 24, 2026

“Although Hall never resorts to a cliched impersonation, his suggestion of Nixon’s physiognomy is frequently uncanny, especially in profile.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2022

She and Bardem are both miscast, but Kidman is a particularly off fit for Ball, whose physical dexterity and ductile physiognomy, her rubber-band mouth and astonished eyes, are imprinted in our collective brain.

From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021

Take Michael Gove, a revanchist endorsement of the science of physiognomy.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 7, 2019

Whether there is some transmission of knowledge through the ether, or whether physiognomy and expression have some linguistic virtue so subtle that we do not remark its operation, the eyes may indeed speak.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Linowitz’s fanciful physiognomies peer inside as they bulge outward.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 2023

“Avatar” was a thrilling moviegoing experience and a pioneering showpiece for performance-capture technology, which allowed Cameron and his actors to endow their Na’vi characters with astonishingly detailed and lifelike gazes, gestures and physiognomies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2022

Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson have two of the most mesmerizing — and pleasurably unnerving — physiognomies in movies.

From New York Times ● Oct. 16, 2019

Craggy, gnarled, lean and tough, with a touch of whimsy, it is one of the most remembered physiognomies in history.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 11, 2013

On most of their callous, but naturally by no means stupid, physiognomies, the expression was one of spite and cunning, combined with indications of a secret and anxious expectation.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 57, No. 355, May 1845 by Various