Meaning & use
furrowed face
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Meaning
nouncountable
A face with deep lines or wrinkles, especially from age, worry, or intense thought.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a furrowed face' or 'furrowed faces'. Often after 'with'.
Patterns
- a furrowed face
- with a furrowed face
- his/her furrowed face
She looked at him with a furrowed face, trying to understand what he meant.
The old farmer had a furrowed face from years of working in the sun.
His furrowed face showed the strain of the long journey.
Word forms
| plural | furrowed faces |
|---|
Common combinations
- a deeply furrowed face
- He had a deeply furrowed face that made him look older than his years.
- a furrowed face with worry
- She came home with a furrowed face with worry.
- a furrowed face and tired eyes
- The portrait showed a furrowed face and tired eyes.
Synonyms and how they differ
- lined face
- More neutral and common in everyday speech; it simply means a face with lines.
- wrinkled face
- Similar, but often suggests smaller, finer wrinkles, not deep furrows.
- careworn face
- Stronger and more literary; it stresses the effect of worry or hardship.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: furrowed face or farrow?
furrowed face vs farrow
A 'farrow' is a litter of pigs; 'furrowed' is about lines or wrinkles.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'furrowed face' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A 'furrowed face' means a face with deep lines, often from worry, so 'after hearing the bad news' fits. 'Furrowed' can describe land or a surface, but not a building's face in this sense, and washing your face doesn't make it furrowed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “furrowed face”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.