ADJ

angelic, beautiful, handsome, lovely, pleasant, pretty, sweet
plain, ugly, terrible
colourless, grey, pale, pallid, white
flushed, pink, red, ruddy
Her face was flushed after her run
tanned
dark
sallow
heart-shaped, oval, round, square
bearded, freckled, unshaven
lined, wrinkled
pock-marked, raddled
fat, plump
She had a plump, pretty face
gaunt, haggard, lean, pinched, thin, wizened
craggy, rugged
a craggy face with deep-set eyes and bushy brows
elfin
Her short hair suited her elfin face
painted
happy, smiling
tear-stained, tear-streaked
human

VERB + FACE

tilt, turn
She turned her face away. He tilted her face up to his

FACE + VERB

look, peer, stare
A face peered round the door at him

PREP

in the/sb's ~
The ball hit him in the face. His eyes were sunken in his gaunt face
on the/sb's ~
She put some powder on her face

PHRASES

a sea of faces (= a large crowd of faces)
From the stage, he looked down at a sea of faces

ADJ

animated, cheerful, friendly, grinning, happy, radiant, smiling
anxious, frightened, troubled
angry, furious
hard, set, stern
His face was set and hard
grave, serious
long, sad
The news for the company isn't good, judging from the long faces in the boardroom
funny
She made a funny face and gave a snorting sort of laugh
honest, kind
expectant
rapt
expressive, open
She looked at the honest, open face of her husband
blank, expressionless, impassive
His face remained impassive, so strong was his self-control

VERB + FACE

make, pull
What are you pulling a face at now?
search
He searched her face for some clue as to what she meant

FACE + VERB

brighten, glow, light up
Her little face lit up when I gave her the present
beam, smile
The face smiled benignly at him
cloud, crumple, drop, fall
Her face crumpled and she started crying. ' I can't come, ' she said. His face fell
clear
His face cleared and she smiled back
darken, harden, set
Her face darkened with anger. His face set in grim lines
soften
The father's face softened as he hugged his little boy
flame, flush, go red, redden
Jack's face flushed with embarrassment
pale
Her face paled with fright
contort, crease, pucker, tighten, twist
Her face contorted in pain
betray sth, reveal sth
Her face betrayed no emotion at all

PREP

on sb's ~
She had a big smile on her face

PHRASES

a face like thunder (= a very angry face)
Mr Hibbs came in with a face like thunder

ADJ

front, rear
North, South, etc.
steep
We slowly climbed the steep face of the crag
cliff, rock
clock

PHRASES

face down/downwards, face up/upwards
She placed the cards face downwards on the table

ADJ

familiar, (same) old
I looked around for a familiar face. I'm so bored with seeing the same old faces!
different, fresh, new, strange, unfamiliar
famous, well-known
a restaurant where you often see famous faces

VERB + FACE

see

ADJ

human
bureaucracy with a human face
acceptable
unacceptable
Social deprivation is the unacceptable face of capitalism
true
changing
the changing face of Britain