visage

noun

vis·​age ˈvi-zij How to pronounce visage (audio)
1
: the face, countenance, or appearance of a person or sometimes an animal
2
: aspect, appearance
the grimy visage of a mining town

Did you know?

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

an old man with a noticeably happy visage visitors to the mountain range had long noted that the natural rock formation bore a striking resemblance to the visage of a man
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The ancient Greeks often decorated their bronze cauldrons, used to honor the gods, with the head of a griffin, whose visage is that of an eagle but whose body is that of a lion. Graham Bowley, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025 The actor whose visage has, twice, had to convey the entire weight of the Holocaust looks almost unrecognizable on the tiny screen. Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 5 Feb. 2025 Need an agile, powerful boy with a bold, angry visage? Josh Max, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2025 Orlok’s mustachioed visage could be seen as a nod to the real Vlad the Impaler, who inspired Stoker. Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 24 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for visage

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from vis face, from Latin visus sight, from vidēre to see — more at wit

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of visage was in the 14th century

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Cite this Entry

“Visage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/visage. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.

Kids Definition

visage

noun
vis·​age ˈviz-ij How to pronounce visage (audio)
1
: the face
also : an expression of the face
2
: the outward appearance of a person, animal, or thing
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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