smooth-facedadj.
1. in extended use.1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III v. viii. 33 Let their heires..Enrich the time to come with smooth-faste peace, With smiling plentie. View more context for this quotation
a. Of persons: Having a face free from hair, wrinkles, etc.; clean-shaven, beardless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > skin > textures or states of skin > [adjective] > wrinkle > not having
unwrinkled1547
smooth-faced1591
smooth-skinned1611
unpleated1612
unbunched1615
sleek1638
sleekyc1725
unploughed1826
unlined1840
the world > life > the body > hair > hair on lower part of face > [adjective] > beard > having no
unbearded1560
smooth-faced1591
unrougha1616
imberbic1623
undowned1657
imberb1923
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn i. sig. F A smooth facte Nunne..is all the Abbots wealth.
?a1592 in J. G. Nichols Topographer & Genealogist (1853) II. 400 Thomas Myeld..in whight armour, faire and smoth-fased.
1621 F. Quarles Hadassa iv. Medit. sig. E2 Hopefull Princes (ill-aduis'd By young, and smooth-fac'd Councell).
1689 London Gaz. No. 2056/4 John Randall,..smooth faced, aged about 20.
1756 C. Smart tr. Horace Satires i. x, in tr. Horace Wks. (1826) II. 81 The smooth-faced [L. pulcher] Hermogenes.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. 89 No shavelings,..like the smooth-faced sanctities of the later calendar.
1883 Standard 16 May 5/6 Marks of small-pox were so prevalent that it was common to distinguish one free from them as a smooth-faced person.
b. figurative. Having or assuming a bland, ingratiating, or insinuating expression; plausible in manner.
ΚΠ
1609 J. Davies Humours Heau'n on Earth 228 Rogh-cast the skin of smooth-fac'd glozing Guile With burning blisters.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) ii. i. 574 He that winnes of all..: That smooth-fac'd Gentleman, tickling commoditie. View more context for this quotation
1682 T. Creech tr. Lucretius De natura rerum v. 170 Nor could the treacherous smile Of smooth-fac'd waves tempt on [sic] poor man to toyl.
1812 P. B. Shelley Addr. in Prose Wks. (1888) I. 228 Take care then of smooth-faced impostors.
1862 G. A. Sala Ship-chandler ii. 22 How much has that smooth-faced hound given you to stand in with him?
2. figurative. Of words, etc.: Specious, plausible.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > [adjective] > of words or manners
fairOE
honeyed1435
glozed1509
fair-tongued1541
fine1568
smoothed1568
smoothinga1592
sugary1591
slicked1594
rose water1598
rose-watered1599
candied1604
soft1609
courtlya1616
smooth-faced1626
oileda1640
blandished1671
sugar1687
fair-spoken1704
smooth-tongued1761
silky1778
pill-gilded1822
blarneyfied1830
greasy1848
blarneyed1861
soothering1866
soothing-syrupy1902
1626 F. Quarles Feast for Wormes (ed. 2) sig. D4 They whose smooth-fac'd words become the Altar.
1677 R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra ii. iv. 249 Weak heads cannot see the far end of a smooth-fac'd Doctrine.
3. Of things: Having a smooth face or surface.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > flatness or levelness > smoothness > [adjective]
smeethc725
unroughOE
plaina1398
balghc1440
smoothc1440
glat1481
fair1486
handsmooth1530
terse1602
smooth-faced1647
sleekyc1725
smack-smooth1755
knotless1792
gleg1808
textureless1846
glabrous1860
unsculptured1891
1647 H. More Philos. Poems 319 The rough Earth, one smooth-fac'd Round would show.
1702 C. Beaumont J. Beaumont's Psyche (new ed.) ii. cxxxix. 23 For his rich Ring of smoothfac'd Diamond.
1871 U. Hawthorne in Passages from French & Ital. Note-bks. of Nathaniel Hawthorne II. 82 Other smooth-faced and stuccoed edifices.
1896 Daily News 19 Dec. 6/4 A smooth-faced cloth in a soft tone of heliotrope.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1912; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
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adj.1591