Meaning & use
burrowed brow
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Meanings
phrasecountableliterary
A forehead marked by deep lines, especially from worry, thought, or age.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: a burrowed brow, his burrowed brow.
Patterns
- a burrowed brow
- someone's burrowed brow
- with a burrowed brow
She read the letter twice, a burrowed brow betraying her worry.
He sat opposite me with a burrowed brow, saying nothing.
The photograph showed an old man with a burrowed brow and tired eyes.
phrasesingularliterary
A look of serious concentration or anxiety shown by deep folds above the eyes.
Grammar: Often appears after 'with' to describe how someone looks: with a burrowed brow.
Patterns
- with a burrowed brow
- a burrowed brow of concentration
He stared at the chessboard with a burrowed brow.
Her burrowed brow of concentration made the whole class fall silent.
Common combinations
- a deep burrowed brow
- Years of squinting had given him a deep burrowed brow.
- with a burrowed brow
- She listened with a burrowed brow, taking in every word.
- a burrowed brow of worry
- There was a burrowed brow of worry on his face as he waited for news.
- a heavily burrowed brow
- The teacher's heavily burrowed brow warned us that the test had gone badly.
- to wear a burrowed brow
- He wore a burrowed brow all through the meeting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- furrowed brow
- The standard everyday phrase for the same look; use it in ordinary writing and speech, and keep 'burrowed brow' for literary description.
- creased brow
- Very close in meaning, but it emphasizes folds in the skin rather than the digging image of 'burrowed'.
- scowl
- A scowl is an angry expression of the whole face, while a burrowed brow can show worry or thought rather than anger.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: burrowed brow or furrowed brow? burrowed brow or borrowed?
burrowed brow vs furrowed brow
This is the usual phrase for lines on the forehead; 'burrowed brow' is a rarer, more literary variation and may sound odd in casual conversation.
burrowed brow vs borrowed
'Borrowed' sounds almost the same as 'burrowed' but means taken and used temporarily, so check the spelling in writing.
Practice
Which sentence uses the phrase most naturally?
Choose one answer.
'With a burrowed brow' describes a worried or concentrated look while waiting, which fits the phrase's meaning. Option 0 clashes because a smile suggests ease, not worry; option 2 uses a human facial feature for a dog in a way that sounds strange; option 3 treats the phrase as a color, which it is not.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “burrowed brow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.