Meaning & use
furrows his eyebrows
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Meanings
phrasefixed phrase
Pulls the eyebrows together and down, usually because of worry, confusion, or deep thought.
Grammar: The possessive changes with the subject: he furrows his eyebrows, she furrows her eyebrows.
Patterns
- someone furrows his eyebrows
- someone furrows her eyebrows
- furrow your eyebrows at someone
He furrowed his eyebrows when he read the strange email.
She furrowed her eyebrows at the noise and looked toward the door.
The teacher furrows his eyebrows whenever a student gives a wrong answer.
phrasefixed phrase
A facial expression in which the brows are drawn together, showing doubt or displeasure.
Grammar: Used as a noun-like description of a look; often after 'with' or 'in'.
Patterns
- with furrowed eyebrows
- a look with furrowed eyebrows
She stared at the bill with furrowed eyebrows.
He answered the question with furrowed eyebrows, clearly unsure.
Common combinations
- furrow your brow
- Try not to furrow your brow so much when you concentrate.
- furrow your eyebrows at someone
- He furrowed his eyebrows at me, so I knew he disagreed.
- deeply furrowed eyebrows
- Her deeply furrowed eyebrows showed how worried she was.
- furrow your eyebrows in confusion
- The clerk furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the old receipt.
Synonyms and how they differ
- knit your brows
- Means almost the same and sounds slightly more literary; 'furrow your eyebrows' is more common in everyday speech.
- scowl
- Describes a stronger, angrier expression of the whole face, not just the eyebrows.
- frown
- Focuses on the mouth turning down; furrowing the eyebrows is mainly about the forehead.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: furrows his eyebrows or frown? furrows his eyebrows or wrinkle your nose?
furrows his eyebrows vs frown
A frown usually means the corners of the mouth turn down; furrowing the eyebrows is about pulling the brows together.
furrows his eyebrows vs wrinkle your nose
This is a different facial movement, used for smells or disgust, not for worry or thought.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence.
Choose one answer.
The possessive must match the subject, so 'she ... her eyebrows' is correct. Option 2 mixes 'she' with 'his', option 3 uses the base verb with a third-person subject, and option 4 wrongly replaces the possessive with 'the'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “furrows his eyebrows”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.