facial expression

noun

"facial-expression" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“facial expression” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
17
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A particular configuration of the facial muscles that conveys certain emotions or intentions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-facial-expression · facial expression · English

facial expression · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 17 letters
  • VOW-7 7 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for facial expression
PropertyValue
Headwordfacial expression
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters17
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “facial expression” in English

facial expressionsits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

facial expression is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A particular configuration of the facial muscles that conveys certain emotions or intentions.".

Zero misspellings are on record for facial expression in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is facial expression, spelled F-A-C-I-A-L- -E-X-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A particular configuration of the facial muscles that conveys certain emotions or intentions.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how facial expression appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But the yokel, being a yokel, was not good at the reading of facial expression, and only knew that a remarkably fine woman had gone by smiling.
  2. The sullen clerk there did not return my greetings or my farewell, did not say a word, and did not show a single facial expression except irritation that I had interrupted his customerless routine.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "facial expression"?
"facial expression" is spelled F-A-C-I-A-L- -E-X-P-R-E-S-S-I-O-N.
What does "facial expression" mean?
As a noun, "facial expression" means: A particular configuration of the facial muscles that conveys certain emotions or intentions.
What language does "facial expression" come from?
"facial expression" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list