as in features
formal
the appearance of a person's face; a person's facial features
He and his son have the same distinctive physiognomy.
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Recent Examples of physiognomy
Differences between Genovese and Costello come down to their marriages (the former to Kathrine Narducci’s Anna, the latter to Debra Messing’s Bobbie) and the physiognomy of make-up for the men’s superficial contrasts.
—
Armond White, National Review, 21 Mar. 2025
Guston’s first comic for The Junior Times, a sparse strip drawn at age 12, introduced Little Snowball, a Black youth bearing exaggerated racial physiognomy and dialect.
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 4 June 2024
Her husband would catch her staring clinically at his physiognomy.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024
And, of course, there was the perennial punch line of physiognomy: sight gags, sketches, and songs that depicted Jewish bodies as misshapen and absurd.
—Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for physiognomy
Armond White, National Review, 21 Mar. 2025
Guston’s first comic for The Junior Times, a sparse strip drawn at age 12, introduced Little Snowball, a Black youth bearing exaggerated racial physiognomy and dialect.
—Walker Mimms, New York Times, 4 June 2024
Her husband would catch her staring clinically at his physiognomy.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harper's Magazine, 9 Jan. 2024
And, of course, there was the perennial punch line of physiognomy: sight gags, sketches, and songs that depicted Jewish bodies as misshapen and absurd.
—Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2023
See All Example Sentences for physiognomy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for physiognomy
Noun
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Our expert take The Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card is a premium credit card with a myriad of benefits and a lower annual fee than other high-end cards with similar features.—
Meghan Hunter,
CNBC,
26 Oct. 2025
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Leaders go for the big-name software with bold promises, only to face long implementations, steep learning curves, and features that don’t match how teams actually work.—
Dennis Woodside,
Fortune,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Police reportedly located the woman after reviewing a two-second security camera video clip, in which she was allegedly seen on a city sidewalk carrying something that appeared to be wrapped in a bundle and holding it as a person would typically hold a baby.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
23 Oct. 2025
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One issue is that hypnosis has long been viewed as a form of entertainment, a stage show with a hypnotist and an audience, which can give viewers a sense that hypnosis is something done to you rather than a process that a person is led through.—
Rustin Dodd,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Smith cited a strong support network for transgender students on campus during her appearance.—
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 Oct. 2025
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There were five in eight appearances.—
Matt Woosnam,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Physiognomy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/physiognomy. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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