frowning
frowning — verb
1. the present participle of 'frown' — pulling your eyebrows down and close togethe
the present participle of 'frown' — pulling your eyebrows down and close together so the forehead wrinkles, typically because the person is irritated, worried, upset, or thinking very hard about something
Noor sat frowning at the math problem for almost twenty minutes before asking for help.
frowning at + noun (focus of thought)
Daichi looked up, frowning, when the phone rang at three in the morning.
frowning as a parenthetical describing facial expression
The teacher walked between the desks, frowning over a stack of unfinished homework.
Élise stood at the window, frowning as she watched her son cross the busy street alone.
Hugo entered the kitchen frowning and asked who had broken the blue ceramic bowl.
- scowling
stronger — adds anger or hostility; frowning can be mild concentration
- grimacing
twisting the whole face, often from pain or disgust, not just the brow
- knitting one's brows
literary; same brow movement but emphasises concentration over displeasure
文法句型
frowning at + noun
frowning over + noun
stand/sit + frowning
用法筆記
Frequently appears as a participle clause modifying the subject (e.g. 'She read the letter, frowning'). Subject is almost always a person; for objects or weather, English prefers other expressions.
常見錯誤
frowning — noun
1. the act of pulling your brow down into a wrinkled, displeased shape; used in wri
the act of pulling your brow down into a wrinkled, displeased shape; used in writing when an author wants to name the action itself rather than refer to a single facial expression
After three hours at the desk, Sofia caught herself in a state of constant frowning.
in a state of constant frowning (prolonged action)
The doctor warned Eitan that the daily frowning over his laptop was giving him headaches.
daily frowning over + noun (habitual action)
William's hours of frowning at the spreadsheet finally helped him spot the missing number.
Amihan described the old judge's frowning as the most frightening thing in the courtroom.
- smiling
noun form of 'smile' — the opposite mouth-up expression
文法句型
a frowning of + body part
constant frowning
用法筆記
Rare; most natural English uses 'a frown' (countable noun) instead. Choose this -ing noun only when you mean the ongoing action or habit of frowning rather than one expression.
常見錯誤
2. a single look formed by pulling the eyebrows down and together, showing displeas
a single look formed by pulling the eyebrows down and together, showing displeasure or hard concentration; in modern English the simple noun 'frown' is far more common than this -ing form
When the question was repeated, Tendai's face held a deep, confused frowning for a moment.
a deep, confused frowning (single expression on a face)
Jessica caught a brief frowning on her brother's face just before he forced a smile.
a brief frowning on someone's face
Christopher's small frowning of concentration showed he was solving the puzzle in his head.
Ravindra greeted every new suggestion with the same patient, doubtful frowning across his face.
- smile
the opposite mouth-curved-up expression
文法句型
a frowning of + concentration/displeasure
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1 by countability and meaning: sense 1 is the ongoing action ('constant frowning'); sense 2 is one visible expression. Both are rare — prefer 'a frown' in everyday writing.