- expression
- noun1 on sb's faceADJECTIVE▪ neutral▪ blank, dazed, glazed, vacant▪
They all just looked at me with blank expressions.
▪ deadpan▪He cracks jokes with a deadpan expression on his face.
▪ curious, enigmatic, inscrutable, odd, strange, unreadable▪ calm▪ guarded▪ thoughtful▪ dreamy, wistful▪ doubtful, wary▪ anxious, concerned, troubled, worried▪ bleak, grim, serious▪ annoyed▪ angry, fierce, furious, stern▪ hangdog, hurt, melancholy, mournful, pained, sad▪He hung around with this pathetic hangdog expression on his face.
▪ intense, rapt▪ horrified, shocked, stunned, surprised▪ baffled, bemused, bewildered, confused, puzzled, quizzical▪ alert▪ bored▪ amused, wry▪ benign, sympathetic▪ satisfied, smug▪ innocent▪ fleeting▪ facial▪The actors's gestures and facial expressions are perfect.
VERB + EXPRESSION▪ have, hold, wear▪She had a very bewildered expression on her face.
▪The children's faces all wore the same rapt expression.
▪ assume, put on▪She carefully put on her most innocent expression.
▪ take on▪Rose's face took on the fierce expression of a schoolgirl talking about her most hated teacher.
▪ show▪His face showed no expression.
▪ catch, notice, see▪Catching a fleeting expression on Lucy's face, she persisted with her question.
▪ examine, observe, watch▪ gauge, read▪I looked at her, trying to read the expression on her face.
▪ change▪His face never changed expression.
EXPRESSION + VERB▪ alter, change▪His expression changed to embarrassment.
▪ grow … , turn …▪His expression grew thoughtful.
▪Her expression suddenly turned serious.
▪ remain sth▪ relax, soften▪His expression softened when he saw her.
▪ darken, harden▪Her expression hardened into one of strong dislike.
▪ freeze▪ betray sth, reveal sth, show sth, suggest sth, tell sb sth▪Her expression betrayed nothing of her thoughts.
▪His grim expression told her it would be useless.
▪ cross sth, flit across sth▪She had been watching the expression that crossed his face.
▪ appear on sth▪A surprised expression appeared on her face.
PREPOSITION▪ without expression▪‘Go on,’ she said, without expression.
▪ expression of▪He wore an expression of anxiety on his face.
PHRASES▪ the expression in sb's eyes, the expression on sb's face▪He looked at her with a very strange expression in his eyes.
2 showing feelings/ideasADJECTIVE▪ clear▪Her statement was a clear expression of her views on this subject.
▪ concrete, material, practical, tangible▪The report gave concrete expression to the fears of many immigrants.
▪ direct▪Just because there is no direct expression of prejudice, that does not mean the prejudice does not exist.
▪ full▪The new concept of form reached its fullest expression in the work of Picasso.
▪ highest, perfect, ultimate▪His highest expression of praise was ‘Not bad!’
▪the highest expression of human creativity
▪ effective, powerful▪ simple▪ natural▪He wanted to write a verse drama in which the verse would seem a natural expression of modern life.
▪ spontaneous▪ free▪the right of free expression
▪ open, overt, public▪the open expression of emotion
▪ outward▪the outward expression of inner emotional feelings
▪ formal▪ characteristic, classic▪Modernism was the characteristic expression of the experience of modernity.
▪ unique▪ collective▪The harvest festival was the occasion for the collective expression of a community's religious values.
▪ individual, personal▪to allow scope for individual expression
▪ visible, visual▪ emotional, physical, sexual▪ oral (esp. AmE), verbal, written▪the verbal expression of one's feelings
▪A constitution is the written expression of the people's will.
▪ artistic, creative, cultural, linguistic, literary, musical, poetic, political, religious▪ humanVERB + EXPRESSION▪ achieve, find, reach, receive▪an anger and frustration that finds expression in (= is shown in) violence
▪ give sth▪Only in his dreams does he give expression to his fears.
PREPOSITION▪ beyond expression▪She suddenly felt happy beyond expression (= so happy that she could not express it).
PHRASES▪ freedom of expression▪Freedom of expression (= freedom to say what you think) is a basic human right.
▪ a means of expression▪Words, as a means of expression, can be limiting.
3 wordsADJECTIVE▪ common▪ colloquial, slang, vernacular▪ vulgar▪ strange, unusual▪ favourite/favorite▪ figurative, idiomatic, metaphorical▪ American, English, etc.▪ geographical▪Until the mid-nineteenth century, ‘Italy’ was just a geographical expression.
VERB + EXPRESSION▪ use▪He tends to use strange expressions like ‘It's enough to make a cat laugh’.
▪ hear▪I've not heard that expression before.
EXPRESSION + VERB▪ mean sth
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
