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.

He aimed to capture the temperament and character of his sitters as revealed by their physiognomy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 24, 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

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

Sarandon’s very physiognomy suggests defiance; she looks indignant even at rest.

From The Guardian • Nov. 26, 2017

And the process of naming “the people” has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates