visage
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\n \n Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 21, 2024 is:\n \n
\n \n\n visage • \\VIZ-ij\\ • noun
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Visage is a formal word that refers to someone\u2019s face or facial expression, or to the general appearance of something.
\n\n// Manny was surprised to see the smiling visage of his childhood friend, now running for the state senate, beaming down from a billboard.
\n\n// Don\u2019t be intimidated by the rugged visage of the mountain; it\u2019s accessible to climbers of all skill levels.
\n\n\n \n \n\n Examples:
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\u201c[Keri] Russell was 22 when she was cast in the title role of Felicity. At the beginning of the series, her character was 17 years old, but thanks to Russell\u2019s preternaturally youthful visage (and that glorious head of hair!), she pulled it off believably.\u201d \u2014 Jessica Sager, Parade, 7 Jan. 2024
\n \n \n\n Did you know?
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In \u201cOzymandias,\u201d Percy Bysshe Shelley\u2019s famous poem, a traveller tells of a colossal statue\u2019s \u201cshattered visage\u201d lying half sunk in desert sands, going on to describe its \u201cfrown / And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command\u2026\u201d Now, Shelley could have simply chosen face over the more highfalutin synonym visage, but not only would face shatter the sonnet\u2019s 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 Bront\xeb writes in Wuthering Heights, \u201cI thought I could detect in his physiognomy a mind owning better qualities than his father ever possessed.\u201d Countenance, meanwhile, is often used to refer to the face as an indication of mood or emotion, as in Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula: \u201cMina struggled hard to keep her brave countenance.\u201d As all of these quotes attest, when it comes to wordsmithery, sometimes you\u2019ve just got to vamp.
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