Word Finder - countenance

definition

Appearance, especially the features and expression of the face.

definition

Favour; support; encouragement.

definition

Superficial appearance; show; pretense.

definition

Calm facial expression, composure, self-control.

definition

To tolerate, support, sanction, patronise or approve of something.

example

The cruel punishment was countenanced by the government, although it was not officially legal.

Be friendly with all and always have a smiling countenance.

His countenance conveyed the possibility of error.

One morning Roy entered the hut with a slow step and a sad countenance.

The expression of the little girl's countenance showed that she was perplexed.

When she touched one with which she was familiar, a peculiarly sweet expression lighted her face, and we saw her countenance growing sweeter and more earnest every day.

How long will it be, my mistress, till thy countenance is turned toward me?

His eyes were large and lustrous, his nose rather long and his countenance bright and cheerful."

The sole surviving killer reveals a dark-skinned man with a fierce countenance.

She possessed a regal countenance and carried herself with an easy grace.

In 1177 John de Courci, with the countenance of Henry II., set out to the conquest of Ulster.

This time her countenance changed whenever she was spoken to, but there was not such a decided lighting up of the features as when I had held her hand.

Panic slowly crossed his craven countenance.

Whatever the European sovereigns and commanders may do to countenance Bonaparte, and to cause me, and us in general, annoyance and mortification, our opinion of Bonaparte cannot alter.

All accounts agree in describing him in later life as a man of handsome presence, with a venerable white beard, piercing black eyes and a benevolent cast of countenance, the effect of which was heightened in conversation by a voice of singular sweetness.

The countenance showed reform.

On entering a greenhouse her countenance becomes radiant, and she will tell the names of the flowers with which she is familiar, by the sense of smell alone.

Sarah mirrored his shocked countenance.

In stature he was little; his countenance was always sad, and he never condescended to laughter.

After his death Hyrcanus took advantage of the general confusion to extend Jewish territory with the countenance of Rome.

Their insistence on the personal aspect of religious experience made it impossible for Friends to countenance the setting apart of any man or building for the purpose of divine worship to the exclusion of all others.

Neither at this city, however, nor at Madrid and Rome, was any countenance given to Lobo's plan.

In person he is said to have been "red, bald and short-sighted," but with good features and a pleasing countenance.

If you will show him a harsh and angry countenance he will do the same.

The original inhabitants of Ariana were no doubt of the Aryan family, and immediately cognate with the Persian race, but they were probably intermixed at a very early period with the Sacae and Massagetae, who seem to have held the mountains from Kabul to Herat from the first dawn of history, and to whom must be ascribed - rather than to an infusion of Turco-Tartaric blood introduced by the armies of Jenghiz and Timur - the peculiar broad features and flattish countenance which distinguish the inhabitants of Herat, Seistan and the eastern provinces of Persia from their countrymen farther to the west.

About 1816 he was sent to his uncle, a musical instrument maker in the Strand, to learn the trade; but with his father's countenance he spent more time in reading books of all kinds than at work.

His commanding stature, the symmetry of his form, the dark and melancholy beauty of his countenance, rather rendered piquant than impaired by an obliquity of vision, produced an imposing impression even before his deep and powerful voice had given utterance to its melodious thunders; and harsh and superficial half-truths enunciated with surpassing ease and grace of gesture, and not only with an air of absolute conviction but with the authority of a prophetic messenger, in tones whose magical fascination was inspired by an earnestness beyond all imitation of art, acquired a plausibility and importance which, at least while the orator spoke, made his audience entirely forgetful of their preconceived objections against them.

Brunetiere may have given countenance and currency to theidea, to regard his philosophy as in the main intended as a succour against the fear of death.

Just before he died, says his secretary, Tobias Lear, he felt his own pulse; his countenance changed; the attending physician placed his hands over the eyes of the dying man, "and he expired without a struggle or a sigh."

The College does not countenance any research which harms the health or welfare of any of our animals.

He cannot countenance living in the community at all.

The sole surviving daguerreotype of Kirker reveals a dark-skinned man with a fierce countenance.

Nor is it acceptable to countenance a future in which mass illiteracy consigns Africa to a marginal role in an increasingly knowledge-based global economy.

A sickly pallor overspread his countenance, and he trembled like an aspen.

His refusal to countenance torture as an instrument of judicial investigation, on the ground that "confessions so extorted give no sure criteria for forming a judgment," showed him to be more humane as well as more enlightened than the majority of his council, which had defended the contrary opinion.

Emmet was short and slight in figure; his face was marked by smallpox, and he was described in 1803 for the purpose of identification as being "of an ugly, sour countenance and dirty brown complexion."

Dingli, the Crown advocate, who was the interpreter of the law, and largely its maker, as well as the principal depository of local knowledge, able to prevent the preferment of rivals, and to countenance the barrier which difference of language created between governors and governed.

Camille Desmoulins, in jest and mockery, said of Saint-Just - the youth with the beautiful countenance and the long fair locks- "He carries his head like a Holy Sacrament."

He was, moreover, weak enough to countenance the risky operations of the banker John Law (1717), whose bankruptcy led to such a disastrous crisis in the public and private affairs of France.

It is not uncommon in popular writings to attribute this superiority to a crusader strain - a theory which no one can possibly countenance who knows what miserable degenerates the half-breed descendants of the crusaders rapidly became, as a result of their immoral life and their ignorance of the sanitary precautions necessary in a trying climate.

Only on his very ungracious compliance did Great Britian also promise to countenance the union of Norway and Sweden (treaty of Stockholm, March 3, 1813); and, on the 23rd of April, Russia gave her guarantee to the same effect.

Sadoleto had a remarkable talent for affairs and approved himself a faithful servant of the papacy in many difficult negotiations under successive popes, especially as a peacemaker; but he was no bigoted advocate of papal authority, and the great aim of his life was to win back the Protestants by peaceful persuasion - he would never countenance persecution - and by putting Catholic doctrine in a conciliatory form.

His Scotch and Gallic strains of ancestry are evident; his countenance was decidedly Scotch; his nervous speech and bearing and vehement temperament rather French; in his mind, agility, clarity and penetration were matched with logical solidity.

Look at the kitten's intelligent eyes;" (here Eureka closed her eyes sleepily) "gaze at her smiling countenance!"

This was particularly noticeable on Nesvitski's usually laughing countenance.

Speranski, wearing a gray swallow-tail coat with a star on the breast, and evidently still the same waistcoat and high white stock he had worn at the meeting of the Council of State, stood at the table with a beaming countenance.

His rival 's stolid indifference put the lawyer out of countenance.

It is important for visitors to remember to bring either a healthy dose of skepticism or a strong countenance when exploring these locations.

But it is difficult for many women to countenance a much higher price for hose than they are used to paying, even for such excellent and comfortable control.

His figure was crooked, his limbs shrunken; his hair hung in dishevelled locks over his haggard countenance.

The happiness of his mind beamed forth in his countenance.