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In “Ozymandias,” Percy Bysshe Shelley’s famous poem, a traveller tells of a colossal statue’s “shattered visage” lying half sunk in desert sands, going on to describe its “frown / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command…” Now, Shelley could have simply chosen face over the more highfalutin synonym visage, but not only would face shatter the sonnet’s iambic pentameter, but a formal-sounding word is sometimes preferable to a basic one for all kinds of reasons, including sound, tone, or simply the cut of its jib. Physiognomy, for instance, refers to facial features thought to reveal qualities of temperament or character, as when Emily Brontë writes in Wuthering Heights, “I thought I could detect in his physiognomy a mind owning better qualities than his father ever possessed.” Countenance, meanwhile, is often used to refer to the face as an indication of mood or emotion, as in Bram Stoker’s Dracula: “Mina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance.” As all of these quotes attest, when it comes to wordsmithery, sometimes you’ve just got to vamp.
Examples of visage in a Sentence
Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 22 Feb. 2025
Lady Amelia styled her hair in the wet look, and her makeup included a clean, serene visage with bold brows and a soft, berry lip.
—Julia Teti, WWD, 21 Feb. 2025
My delight upon seeing the always-welcome visage of Succession’s own Alan Ruck in (briefly) a dual role in this week’s episode of Elsbeth is boundless!
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 6 Feb. 2025
Even before Lucky has his first flashback to lovelier days, Catlett has been carrying the weight and bittersweet power of reminiscence in his visage.
—Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 23 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for visage
Cite this Entry
“Visage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visage. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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visage
noun
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