Countenance
/[kæũ̯n.tɪ̆.nəns]/ noun, verb
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Appearance, especially the features and expression of the face. countable, uncountable
"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."
- 2 the appearance conveyed by a person's face wordnet
- 3 Favour; support; encouragement. countable, uncountable
"Thou hast made him[…]glad with thy countenance."
- 4 the human face (‘kisser’ and ‘smiler’ and ‘mug’ are informal terms for ‘face’ and ‘phiz’ is British) wordnet
- 5 Superficial appearance; show; pretense. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"The election being done, he made countenance of great discontent thereat."
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- 6 formal and explicit approval wordnet
- 7 Calm facial expression, composure, self-control. countable, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To tolerate, support, sanction, patronise or approve of something. transitive
"The cruel punishment was countenanced by the government, although it was not officially legal."
- 2 consent to, give permission; permit wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"We will never countenance terrorism."
Etymology
From Middle English contenaunce, countenaunce, from Anglo-Norman countenance and Old French contenance, from the present participle of contenir, or from Late Latin continentia, and therefore a doublet of continence.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.