100 Words for Facial Expressions. Anger affects the entire face, so there are many options for writing about how the different features change. adjective. When writing about emotions, it can be really tempting to simply say that the character is feeling angry or disgusted, because that’s easy to write. Join Macmillan Dictionary on Twitter and Facebook for daily word facts, quizzes and language news. Here are some of the telltale signs of anger in a person’s expression: Anger is a powerful emotion, and it affects more than just the face. How a character’s eyes, eyebrows, nose, forehead, mouth, and chin move in unison can let a reader in on their emotions. You know that keeping things vague and simple or including overused adverbs to simplify descriptions can impact the flow of your story as a whole. Interestingly, human fingernails are indeed flattened claws that got flattened somewhere down in the … eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'allwritealright_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_8',107,'0','0'])); So what does this mean for you? Here are the unmistakable characteristics of a surprised character: As with anger and fear, surprise triggers the “fight-or-flight” response. A fearful person may try to make themself small to avoid drawing attention, or they may instinctively shrink away from whatever is frightening them. #2 - The kids were smiling from ear to ear. Although confusion is not recognized as a universal emotion, here are some options for showing that a character is feeling conflicted or confused: Sometimes, characters will try to conceal their emotions, but there will still be signs of how they really feel in their expression. lenore_x. Unlike all the others on the list, surprise is fleeting, and will typically be expressed in only a few seconds. Great for new teachers, student teachers , homeschooling and teachers who like creative ways to teach. The expression on a person's face can even help determine if we trust or believe what the individual is saying. Emotions are expressed innately, and the faces people make when experiencing different emotions are based on natural instinct. A character can have a facial tic when they get nervous. Contempt is an interesting emotion, but it is one that is often overlooked. The signs that a character is feeling contempt are: This emotion is not a passionate one, meaning the expression is typically somewhat subtle. Here are some examples: Remember that the choices you make when describing a character’s expressions can also indicate personality traits, trustworthiness, and likeability. However, it feels so much more authentic to a reader if they can figure out how a character is feeling based on the descriptions you give about their facial features. Absent: preoccupied 2. Crying usually isn’t a pretty sight, so don’t be afraid to show that the character’s face is red or that their nose is running. ...the young and the old of widely different races, both with man and animals, express the same state of mind by the same movements. Log in here. In this video, you'll learn how to talk about facial expressions. Now let’s get into the specifics of each expression. Microexpressions can help you reveal more depth to your characters, and make each individual seem more complex. List of Facial Expressions Indications : Eyebrows squeezed together to form a crease, eyelids are tight and straight, slightly lowered head, eyes look upwards through a lowered brow, tightening of facial muscles, tight lips, flaring nostrils, and an … Microexpressions are tiny glimpses of the true emotion that a person feels, quickly followed by a false expression to mask that emotion. Surprise. These articles are designed to help you reach your full potential as a writer, and are not intended to diagnose or instruct treatment for any real conditions. The content provided in these posts is for informational purposes only. In short, you are not interested in what’s happening around as your mind is wandering elsewhere. True happiness is expressed with the eyes, so when a person smiles without showing it in their eyes, it comes across as cold and ingenuine. A character trying to mask happiness may squint their eyes, then adopt a stoic expression. Describing someone’s appearance. My most overused word in fiction is probably "to look," in the sense of "to appear." A person looks surprised when they have widened eyes and a gaping mouth. In the mid-20th century most anthropologists believed tha… Here are some examples: A character trying to mask anger may draw their lips in tightly, then smile. Fear is another difficult emotion, because there are many different degrees and types of fear a character can feel. Lips are typically pursed together as well, although the expression of confusion tends to be most accentuated around the eyes and nose. Today, we often associate happiness with pleasure. An angry person is usually on the offensive, while a fearful person is going to be defensive. ! If a character is angry, they are going to move deliberately and with confidence. Ekman ran a social experiment in the late 20th century with the intention of proving Darwin wrong, but he accidentally ended up proving this theory to be correct. #3 - He looked puzzled. Dialogue; Complete Transcript; Also, and this should go without saying by now, don’t tell the readers that the character is disgusted—show them. They could even be feeling anger, disgust, fear, and surprise all at the same time.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'allwritealright_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_5',111,'0','0'])); Emotions can conflict and overlap with each other, creating a unique expression as they are all experienced at once. However, the degree to which the emotion is expressed is going to depend on the character and the context. You’ve probably read “her nose wrinkled in disgust” a million times before, but you shouldn’t get comfortable with writing like everybody else. . Daily English 357 - Describing Facial Expressions. The function of a facial expression A facial expression conveys an emotion that tells us about the character and the way they react to the situation. Although I do want to help you write your next masterpiece, my real goal is to inspire you. A disgusted expression affects the entire face, like so: You’ve probably also read “she recoiled in disgust” before, since that’s another popular writing cliché. 3  Try to sort through the emotions your character is feeling in order to figure out how to describe their expression. First try conveying emotions indirectly or through dialogue, but if you must fall back on a descriptive term, try for precision: 1. The look on a person's face is often the first thing we see, even before we hear what they have to say. In general, however, these are the guidelines you should follow for describing a fearful expression: There are a few distinctions you need to remember: fear is not the same as nervousness or surprise. Disappointment, frustration Crinkled eyes Lowered head Half … "Beaming" means the person has a big smile - it means they are extremely happy! A smile can mean many things, and it can even foreshadow a character’s hidden traits.   Consider how much information can be conveyed with a smile or a frown. How to Describe Facial Expressions in Writing, Some Tips for Describing Facial Expressions, Tricks for Describing a Character’s Appearance (With Examples), Writing the First Page of a Story: Tips to Make it Perfect, How to Write a Creepy Character Realistically, Horror Story Writing Prompts: Chilling Ideas for Your Next Creepy Story, Describe Crying in Writing—Without the Clichés, Dialogue Writing Prompts to Spark Your Next Story, Their eyebrows would be lowered and pulled closer together, Their eyelids would become squinted or raised (or their eyes may bulge if they are enraged), The corners of their mouth would point downwards, Their Jaw would be tense and might jut forward slightly, Vertical wrinkles may appear between their eyebrows, Wrinkles appear at the corners of their eyes, A defined wrinkle runs from the sides of their nose to the corners of their mouth, known as “smile lines”, The corners of their mouth move up at a diagonal, widening their mouth, Their eyebrows will lower and pulled closer together, The inner corners of their eyebrows will be angled up, The corners of their mouth will be drawn downwards, Their lips may be either drawn in tightly or pouting outwards. "Smiling from ear to ear" is another expression to describe a big smile. The expression for surprise looks different, and although nervousness is often a precursor to fear, they are not the same. Another character may have surprise as their dominant emotion, but scowl in anger. There is usually a dominant emotion that will define the majority of the expression, but elements of other expressions would creep in. Want to get this lesson and 1800+ more like it? If you'd like to learn more about me, take a look at my "About Me" page! Surprise functions differently from the other universal emotions. In the second part of the article we look at how this can be achieved, and we briefly look into a longstanding bone of contention in the field: the level of interpretation needed and allowed in … Though not a facial expression, notice how he brandishes his fingernails as if they were claws. A quality educational site offering 5000+ FREE printable theme units, word puzzles, writing forms, book report forms,math, ideas, lessons and much more. Acting for the camera is very different. After returing to it a few times, I thought I would share it here. As the facial expressions are often shown in (short) close-ups, time to describe them is very limited and concise description is a must. Pay attention to the actors’ faces when you are watching a movie or show, and try to take note of the little changes in their expressions. Free thesaurus definition of words used to describe facial expressions from the Macmillan English Dictionary - a free English dictionary online with thesaurus and with pronunciation from Macmillan Education. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire 4. Recreate it in a mirror, or record yourself with your cell phone, and use that as a guide. Absolute Write Water Cooler > General Writing Interest > Basic Writing Questions > Describing facial expressions. They will take up space and command attention with the way they move. Well, there are many different ways that sadness can be felt and expressed depending on the intensity of the emotion, and there many different things that can trigger a sad response in a character. Describing facial expression. Making inappropriate facial expressions for the circumstances. I try to think of inventive ways of describing the same sort of facial expression by thinking about what I do or how my friends look. Another way to distinguish the two is with the character’s body language. This post may contain affiliate links. If you want more pointers for writing about anger, I have another article you might want to read: Writing a Character with Anger Issues. An adjective is a kind of word that describes a noun (a person, place or thing). Note that some of them work for more than one emotion—a person might narrow their eyes out of vindictiveness or skepticism, for instance, and their face might turn red out of … If you are having difficulty describing a character’s expression, try acting out the scene. Understanding the characteristics of each expression is the first step towards knowing how to properly describe them in your own writing. Tears distort vision, so if you’re writing in the first person, don’t forget that your character’s vision will be blurry. How do you feel? A facial expression results from one or more motions or positions of the muscles of the face. Words used to describe facial expressions, To show, or to be expressed in the face or eyes. 2. If you want tips for writing about nervousness, check out my other article: How to Write a Nervous Character. Expressions have so much potential to show a character’s true colors! Posts about describing facial expressions written by dcomeaux. Everyday English Speaking Course #1 - She was beaming. Get two FREE sample lessons here and see what Select English is all about. A cold smile can indicate a more sinister nature without you having to work very hard at making them seem that way. You can use just about any feature of the expression for the microexpression, as long as it is indicative of the emotion by itself. The audio describer should bridge the gap between the iconic and the sym- Even the character experiencing the sadness might not understand exactly why they feel that way. Really try to embody the character, and take note of the expression that comes naturally to you. With that said, there are a few universal signs of the expression, such as: Another familiar telltale sign of sadness is crying. September 30, 2020 September 30, 2020 | Ally Ally | 5 Comments . If you want to show that a character is faking a smile, make sure their eyes don’t match the rest of the expression. I'm an artist and a professional writer from Columbia Maryland, and I'm the sole writer and owner of this blog! You don't have to be an expert to write; you just have to enjoy it. Microexpressions can also be a good way of indicating that a character is lying. Yet another type of character could feel contempt as their dominant emotion, yet grimace in disgust at the sight. Although these usually last a fraction of a second, you can use them to tip readers off to how the character is really feeling. 15 Common Facial Expressions and Their Meanings Confusion. However, the context of the situation is usually enough to tip the readers off to which emotion the character is feeling. Now, we know that there are 7 universal emotions that every single culture in the world expresses in the same way. An expression of confusion is often determined by the nose and forehead scrunched up, sometimes with one eyebrow raised higher than the other. Facial expressions are responsible for a huge proportion of nonverbal communication. This expression, the researchers suggested, conveys both friendliness and confidence. Join the popular membership section! Facial Expressions . Imagine the setting, and read the dialogue out loud. What would be going through your mind? Facial Expression/Emotion: Disgust. showing that you are not paying attention to what is happening because you are thinking about something else, an appealing look, voice etc shows that you want help, approval, or agreement, literary a beatific expression on your face is extremely happy and peaceful, looking as if you are thinking and worrying about something, informal very excited or interested, so that your eyes are wide open, a dark look or remark is angry and threatening, pretending to be serious when you are really joking, downcast eyes are looking downwards, especially because you are sad, embarrassed, or shy, a dreamy look, expression etc shows that you are thinking about something pleasant rather than paying attention, mainly literary if a feeling is etched on someone’s face, their expression shows clearly what they are feeling, not allowing your feelings to show in your face, eyes, or voice, used about the expression on someone’s face, a fixed expression on someone’s face does not change or look natural, a glazed look or expression shows no interest or emotion, someone who has a haunted look looks frightened or worried, someone who has a hunted look seems very worried or frightened, expressing a clear feeling or thought without words, a mild feeling or expression is one that is not very strong or severe, a mischievous look or expression shows that you enjoy having fun by causing trouble, moving a lot and showing changes in what you are feeling, used for describing a mysterious smile or expression on a woman’s face, used for saying that someone’s face has a particular expression, showing that you feel very upset or unhappy, a pitying expression shows that you feel pity for someone, but sometimes also that shows you do not think they deserve respect, a pleading look shows that you want something very much, if you say something pleadingly, or if you look at someone pleadingly, your voice or expression shows that you want something very much, showing that you are confused or surprised by something, and perhaps that you think it is rather strange and funny, someone who is radiant looks extremely happy, a roguish expression suggests that someone is likely to do something that is wrong but not harmful, a sardonic smile, expression, or comment shows a lack of respect for what someone else has said or done, a set smile or expression does not change, and often hides what someone is really thinking, with an expression that shows you feel ashamed about something, a sly smile, look, or remark shows that the person doing it knows something that other people do not know, informal smiling, or tending to smile often, if someone has a straight face, they look serious even though they are saying something funny or are in a funny situation, showing that you are in an unhappy mood, and do not want to talk, used about someone’s expression or attitude, used about something such as a voice or expression that shows someone is nervous or angry, used about someone’s face or expression, someone who is tight-lipped has their lips pressed tightly together because they are annoyed about something or they do not approve of it, mainly literary looking straight at someone or something without closing your eyes at all, mainly literary if someone’s face, eyes, or expression are unreadable, you cannot guess what they are thinking, looking as if you do not understand or are not paying attention, with an expression that shows that you are very surprised, frightened, or impressed, someone who is wild-eyed looks very angry or frightened, a withering look, expression, or remark deliberately makes you feel silly or embarrassed, looking as though you want to hurt or trick someone, used about the expression on people’s faces, showing that you think something is funny but not very pleasant, often by the expression on your face. When two or more emotions are fighting for dominance, and a character cannot decide how to feel, their expression can become confused.
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