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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
Richard Brody, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025
Those who prefer a true skin-like visage will love it, while those keen on a glowy finish can build to that level.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 8 Apr. 2025
This formula is also loaded with firming peptides, softening shea butter, and antioxidant-rich vitamin E to keep your neck as glowy and youthful as the rest of your visage.
—Angela Trakoshis, Allure, 3 Mar. 2025
And that’s not even getting into the AI abomination that this movie does to the soul (and visage) of the late Ian Holm.
46.
—Joe Reid, Vulture, 28 Feb. 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 5 May. 2025.
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visage
noun
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