physiognomy

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

So the heart of the problem was to give the museum the necessary new gallery space, studio for resident artists, 100-seat “vegetable-forward” restaurant, and other supporting areas—while doing nothing that would disrupt its distinctive physiognomy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026

“Although Hall never resorts to a cliched impersonation, his suggestion of Nixon’s physiognomy is frequently uncanny, especially in profile.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2022

“I deal with the physiognomy of the soul of black folk,” said Stevens.

From The Guardian • Aug. 29, 2019

At the same exhibition, Degas showed four sketches of young men being tried for murder, which he had drawn from life; those, too, are informed by the day’s prevailing belief that physiognomy contained destiny.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 20, 2018

Whether there is some transmission of knowledge through the ether, or whether physiognomy and expression have some linguistic virtue so subtle that we do not remark its operation, the eyes may indeed speak.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson