frown

§English

§Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɹaʊn/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

  Rhymes: -aʊn

§Etymology

From Old French frognier (“to frown or scowl”), from Gaulish *frognā (“nostril”), from Proto-Celtic *srognā.

§Noun

frown (plural frowns)

1. A facial expression in which the eyebrows are brought together, and the forehead is wrinkled, usually indicating displeasure, sadness or worry, or less often confusion or concentration.

§Derived terms

• permafrown

§Translations

facial expression

• Afrikaans: frons
• Armenian: խոժոռվածություն (xožoṙvacutʿyun)
• Bulgarian: смръщване n (smrǎštvane)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 愁眉苦臉, 愁眉苦脸 (zh) (chóuméikǔliǎn), 皺眉 (zh), 皱眉 (zh) (zhòuméi)

• Dutch: fronsen (nl)
• Esperanto: malrideto
• Finnish: otsan rypistys, kulmien kurtistus
• French: froncement (fr) m
• Georgian: მოღუშული გარეგნობა (moḡušuli garegnoba), წარბის შეკვრა (carbis šekvra)
• German: finsterer Blick, Stirnrunzeln n
• Greek: συνοφρύωση (el) f (synofrýosi)
• Icelandic: gretta, ygglibrún, vanþóknunarsvipur
• Irish: púic f

• Italian: accigliato m, accigliamento m, corruccio (it) m, corrucciamento m
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Lojban: frumu
• Persian: اخم (fa) (axm)
• Polish: zmarszczenie brwi
• Portuguese: franzimento m
• Romanian: încruntare (ro) f
• Russian: нахмуренные брови f pl (naxmúrennyje bróvi), насупленные брови f pl (nasúplennyje bróvi), хмурый взгляд m (xmúryj vzgljad)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мр̀ште̄ње n, мр̀гође̄ње n

  Roman: mr̀štēnje n, mr̀gođēnje n

• Spanish: ceño (es) m
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can

§Verb

frown (third-person singular simple present frowns, present participle frowning, simple past and past participle frowned)

1. (intransitive) To have a frown on one's face.
2. (intransitive) To manifest displeasure or disapprobation; to look with disfavour or threateningly.

   Noisy gossip in the library is frowned upon.

   • Shakespeare

     The sky doth frown and lower upon our army.

3. (transitive) To repress or repel by expressing displeasure or disapproval; to rebuke with a look.

   Frown the impudent fellow into silence.

§Derived terms

• frown at
• frown on
• frown upon

§Translations

to have a frown on one's face

• Afrikaans: frons
• Arabic: عبس (ʿábasa)
• Armenian: հոնքերը կիտել (honkʿerə kitel), խոժոռվել (xožoṙvel)
• Belarusian: хму́рыцца impf (xmúrycca), нахму́рыцца pf (naxmúrycca)
• Bulgarian: мръщя се (mrǎštja se), чумеря се (čumerja se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 皺眉, 皱眉 (zh) (zhòuméi), 蹙額, 蹙额 (cù'é), 蹙眉 (zh) (cùméi)

• Czech: mračit se (cs)
• Dutch: fronsen (nl)
• Estonian: kulmu kortsutama, kulme kortsutama
• Finnish: rypistää otsaansa, kurtistaa kulmiaan
• French: froncer les sourcils (fr)
• German: die Stirn runzeln, runzeln (de)
• Icelandic: hnykla brýnnar, hleypa brúnum, yggla sig

• Italian: accigliarsi, corrucciarsi, imbronciare, immusonire, risentirsi, imbronciarsi
• Japanese: 顔を顰める (かおをしかめる, kao o shikameru)
• Polish: marszczyć brwi
• Portuguese: fazer cara feia, franzir o cenho
• Romanian: încrunta (ro)
• Russian: хмуриться (ru) impf (xmúritʹsja), нахмуриться (ru) pf (naxmúritʹsja), хмурить брови impf (xmúritʹ bróvi), нахмурить брови pf (naxmúritʹ bróvi)
• Slovak: mračiť sa
• Sotho: sosobana
• Spanish: fruncir el ceño
• Swedish: rynka pannan

to look with disfavour or threateningly

• Danish: skule

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skule (no)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} râler (fr)

• German: ^{(please verify)} finster dreinblicken (1), ^{(please verify)} missbilligen (de) (2)
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} fruncir (es) (1)

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§Welsh

§Adjective

frown

1. Soft mutation of brown.

§Mutation

Welsh mutation
radical	soft	nasal	aspirate
brown	frown	mrown	unchanged
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.