Meaning & use
furrowing your brow
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phrase
The act of pulling your eyebrows together and wrinkling your forehead, especially when thinking hard or worrying.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase; 'your' can change to 'his', 'her', 'my', etc. Often after 'by' or 'without'.
Patterns
- furrowing your brow
- by furrowing your brow
- without furrowing your brow
She sat furrowing her brow, trying to solve the difficult problem.
He answered the question without furrowing his brow, as if it were easy.
Furrowing your brow can be a sign of concentration or doubt.
Common combinations
- furrowing your brow in concentration
- He was furrowing his brow in concentration as he read the map.
- furrowing your brow in confusion
- She looked at me, furrowing her brow in confusion.
- without furrowing your brow
- He accepted the explanation without furrowing his brow.
- furrowing your brow at someone
- She furrowed her brow at him, not believing what he said.
Synonyms and how they differ
- frowning
- More general; it can mean a downward turn of the mouth as well as a wrinkled forehead.
- scowling
- Stronger and more negative; it suggests anger or disapproval, not just thought.
- knitting your brows
- Very similar, but more literary and less common in everyday speech.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: furrowing your brow or farrowing?
furrowing your brow vs farrowing
This is about a pig giving birth to piglets; it sounds similar but is completely different in meaning.
Practice
Choose the sentence where 'furrowing your brow' is used correctly.
Choose one answer.
'Furrowing your brow' means making lines on your forehead when thinking hard or worrying, which fits trying to remember a name. The other options describe physical actions that do not involve the forehead.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “furrowing your brow”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.