frown

C2 Topic:General Vocabulary

US /ˈfɹæʊ̯n/ UK /ˈfɹaʊ̯n/ See IPA manual

Freq #14518

Meanings

1

noun
A wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration.

Philip had once told him of a man who had a horse-shoe frown, and Tom had tried with all his frowning-might to make a horse-shoe on his forehead.
2

noun
A downturn of the corners of the mouth, typically expressing sadness.

The smile and the frown are both indicated and the operation of a motor driven flasher causes the face to look happy and sad in turn.
3

verb
To have a frown on one's face.

She frowned when I told her the news.
4

verb
To manifest displeasure or disapprobation; to look with disfavour or threateningly.

Noisy gossip in the library is frowned upon.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Multiword verbs with frown

frown on Prepositional verb C2

to disapprove of something

Thesaurus

Synonyms

scowl

Word family

Forms frownedfrownerfrownersfrowninglyfrowns

Derived forms afrownfrownerfrownfulfrownlessfrownsomefrownyoutfrownpermafrown

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

frown on
to disapprove of something

Verb + preposition/particle

Proverbs (2)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English frounen (“to frown as an expression of disapproval, displeasure, shame, fear, or jealousy”), from Old French frognier (“to frown or scowl”), from Gaulish *frognā (“nostril”), from Proto-Celtic *srognā.

Topics

General Vocabulary

External links

# frown

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɹæʊ̯n/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfɹaʊ̯n/
**Frequency rank:** 14518

## Meanings
1. A wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration.
2. A downturn of the corners of the mouth, typically expressing sadness.
3. To have a frown on one's face.
4. To manifest displeasure or disapprobation; to look with disfavour or threateningly.

## Examples
- Philip had once told him of a man who had a horse-shoe frown, and Tom had tried with all his frowning-might to make a horse-shoe on his forehead.
- The smile and the frown are both indicated and the operation of a motor driven flasher causes the face to look happy and sad in turn.
- She frowned when I told her the news.
- Noisy gossip in the library is frowned upon.

## Synonyms
- scowl

## Derived Forms
- afrown
- frowner
- frownful
- frownless
- frownsome
- frowny
- outfrown
- permafrown

## Etymology
From Middle English frounen (“to frown as an expression of disapproval, displeasure, shame, fear, or jealousy”), from Old French frognier (“to frown or scowl”), from Gaulish *frognā (“nostril”), from Proto-Celtic *srognā.

## Topics
- General Vocabulary

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