scowl
/skaʊl
/noun
An angry or bad-tempered expression: she stamped into the room with a scowl on her face...
- When he saw that she was examining him, his neutral expression turned into a scowl.
- Twelve guards entered the room, scowls and sneers on their faces.
- Number one rule; never smile at your opponent; scowls and grimaces are the order of the day.
Synonyms
frown, glower, glare, grimace, black look
informal dirty look, death stare
Scottish archaic glunch
verb [no object]
Frown in an angry or bad-tempered way: she scowled at him defiantly...
- She met Jack outside Lizzi's bedroom door and found his face to be angry, he was scowling at her.
- Keo frowned and moved towards her, but she scowled and backed up, keeping out of his reach.
- A typical boy, my little Maddy is now scowling at me every time I mention his resounding defeat.
Synonyms
glower, frown, glare, lour, look daggers at, look angrily at, give someone a black look;
make a face, pull a face, turn the corners of one's mouth down, pout
informal give someone a dirty look, give someone a death stare
archaic mop and mow, glout
Scottish archaic glunch
Derivatives
scowler
- Either way, give me this lot over a bunch of monosyllabic scowlers any day.
- She might attempt a direct encounter and offer the scowler a ‘How are you?‘and a smile.’
Origin
Late Middle English (as a verb): probably of Scandinavian origin; compare with Danish skule 'scowl'. The noun dates from the early 16th century.