physiognomist

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a practitioner of physiognomy, the discredited practice of judging character or personality from facial features and outward appearance

   The self-styled physiognomist claimed that the shape of a stranger's brow revealed his temperament.

Formed from physiognomy + -ist, "a practitioner." Physiognomy came through Latin and French from Greek roots associated with physis, "nature or appearance," and gnōmōn, "judge or interpreter." The word belongs to a historical practice now regarded as pseudoscience.

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