expression
Other forms: expressions
The look on your face — sad, happy, bored, amused — is an expression. Your expression lets people know what you're feeling, unless you're good at hiding your emotions.
Expression comes from a Latin word meaning “to press out” and it can still be used this way. If you make fresh orange juice, your juicer helps with the expression of the juice from the fruit. If someone uses art to express their feelings about the world, that's artistic self-expression: something felt inside has been brought out and shared. We also use expression for ways of saying something, like the expression "what's up?"
Definitions of expression
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the communication (in speech or writing) of your beliefs or opinions“expressions of good will”“he helped me find verbal expression for my ideas”
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synonyms:
verbal expression, verbalism
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types:
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articulation, voice
the act of expressing in coherent verbal form
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cold turkey
a blunt expression of views
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congratulation, felicitation
(usually plural) an expression of pleasure at the success or good fortune of another
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type of:
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communicating, communication
the activity of communicating; the activity of conveying information
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articulation, voice
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expression without words“tears are an expression of grief”
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synonyms:
manifestation, reflection, reflexion
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types:
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lamentation, mourning
the passionate and demonstrative activity of expressing grief
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act
a manifestation of insincerity
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blowup, ebullition, effusion, gush, outburst
an unrestrained expression of emotion
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acting out
a (usually irritating) impulsive and uncontrollable outburst by a problem child or a neurotic adult
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cry
a fit of weeping
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explosion
a sudden outburst
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flare
a sudden outburst of emotion
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type of:
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demo, demonstration
a visual presentation showing how something works
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the style of expressing yourself“his manner of expression showed how much he cared”
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synonyms:
formulation
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types:
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sentimentalism
the excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form
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honorific
an expression of respect
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archaicism, archaism
the use of an archaic expression
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boilerplate
standard formulations uniformly found in certain types of legal documents or news stories
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colloquialism
a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech
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idiom, parlance
a manner of speaking that is natural to native speakers of a language
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Americanism
an expression that is characteristic of English as spoken by Americans
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Anglicism, Briticism, Britishism
an expression that is used in Great Britain (especially as contrasted with American English)
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choice of words, diction, phraseology, phrasing, verbiage, wording
the manner in which something is expressed in words
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glop, mush, slop, treacle
writing or music that is excessively sweet and sentimental
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mot juste
the appropriate word or expression
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verbalisation, verbalization
the words that are spoken in the activity of verbalization
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type of:
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expressive style, style
a way of expressing something (in language or art or music etc.) that is characteristic of a particular person or group of people or period
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a word or phrase that particular people use in particular situations“pardon the expression”
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types:
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Beatitude
one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed)
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logion
a saying of Jesus that is regarded as authentic although it is not recorded in the Gospels
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calque, calque formation, loan translation
an expression introduced into one language by translating it from another language
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advice and consent
a legal expression in the United States Constitution that allows the Senate to constrain the President's powers of appointment and treaty-making
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ambiguity
an expression whose meaning cannot be determined from its context
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euphemism
an inoffensive or indirect expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive or too harsh
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dysphemism
an offensive or disparaging expression that is substituted for an inoffensive one
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shucks
an expression of disappointment or irritation
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tongue twister
an expression that is difficult to articulate clearly
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anatomical, anatomical reference
an expression that relates to anatomy
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southernism
a locution or pronunciation peculiar to the southern United States
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catchword, motto, shibboleth, slogan
a favorite saying of a sect or political group
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axiom, maxim
a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
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epigram, quip
a witty saying
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adage, byword, proverb, saw
a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people
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idiom, idiomatic expression, phrasal idiom, phrase, set phrase
an expression whose meanings cannot be inferred from the meanings of the words that make it up
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agrapha
sayings of Jesus not recorded in the canonical Gospels
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sumpsimus
a correct expression that takes the place of a popular but incorrect expression
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bus, heap, jalopy
a car that is old and unreliable
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loophole
an ambiguity (especially one in the text of a law or contract) that makes it possible to evade a difficulty or obligation
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amphibology, amphiboly
an ambiguous grammatical construction; e.g., `they are flying planes' can mean either that someone is flying planes or that something is flying planes
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parisology
the use of ambiguous words
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double entendre
an ambiguity with one interpretation that is indelicate
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catch phrase, catchphrase
a phrase that has become a catchword
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mantra
a commonly repeated word or phrase
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battle cry, cry, rallying cry, war cry, watchword
a slogan used to rally support for a cause
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aphorism, apophthegm, apothegm
a short pithy instructive saying
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gnome
a short pithy saying expressing a general truth
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moralism
a moral maxim
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ruralism, rusticism
a rural idiom or expression
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old man
an informal term for your father
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type of:
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language, oral communication, speech, speech communication, spoken communication, spoken language, voice communication
(language) communication by word of mouth
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the feelings expressed on a person's face
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a group of symbols that make a mathematical statement
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synonyms:
formula
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types:
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sentential function
formal expression containing variables; becomes a sentence when variables are replaced by constants
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primitive
a mathematical expression from which another expression is derived
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exponential expression
a mathematical expression consisting of a constant (especially e) raised to some power
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type of:
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mathematical statement
a statement of a mathematical relation
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sentential function
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a group of words that form a constituent of a sentence and are considered as a single unit
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synonyms:
construction, grammatical construction
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Antonyms:
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misconstruction
an ungrammatical constituent
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types:
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adjunct
a construction that can be used to extend the meaning of a word or phrase but is not one of the main constituents of a sentence
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clause
(grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence
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complement
a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction
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involution
a long and intricate and complicated grammatical construction
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phrase
an expression consisting of one or more words forming a grammatical constituent of a sentence
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predicator
an expression that predicates
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independent clause, main clause
a clause in a complex sentence that can stand alone as a complete sentence
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coordinate clause
a clause in a complex sentence that is grammatically equivalent to the main clause and that performs the same grammatical function
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dependent clause, subordinate clause
a clause in a complex sentence that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and that functions within the sentence as a noun or adjective or adverb
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relative clause
a clause introduced by a relative pronoun
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parenthetical, parenthetical expression
an expression in parentheses
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nominal, nominal phrase, noun phrase
a phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb
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predicate, verb phrase
one of the two main constituents of a sentence; the predicate contains the verb and its complements
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prepositional phrase
a phrase beginning with a preposition
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pronominal, pronominal phrase
a phrase that functions as a pronoun
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response
a phrase recited or sung by the congregation following a versicle by the priest or minister
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catch phrase, catchphrase
a phrase that has become a catchword
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type of:
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constituent, grammatical constituent
(grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction
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misconstruction
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(genetics) the process of expressing a gene
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type of:
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biological process, organic process
a process occurring in living organisms
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biological process, organic process
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the act of forcing something out by squeezing or pressing
Pronunciation
US
/ɛkˈsprɛʃɪn/
UK
/ɛkˈsprɛʃən/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘expression'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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