I was thinking about the phrase “the smile never reached his eyes”. It's quite a common phrase, and it indicates an insincere facial expression, right? Or, rather, an insincerely positive facial expression. Is there a common phrase for an insincerely negative facial expression? There probably isn't a need for one, but if there was, what would it be?
The frown never reached his… eyebrows? His scowl was only skin-deep?
Thanks,
-Ed.
I think the adjective “pouty” applies to insincerely negative expressions.
Interesting… I think I use ‘pouty’ more frequently for genuine pouting, but perhaps I move in the wrong circles.
Thanks,
-Ed.
Best other thing I got is “feigned”. Most of the time when you feign something it is a negative emotion. But it’s not particularly common.
“feigned displeasure” — About 3,430 results
“pouty lips” — About 965,000 result
Except that’s not true that feigned is used mostly for negative emotions — more instances of “feigned happiness” than any other emotion. Oh well.
There’s something about the disapproving looks of people struggling not to smile at a child’s antics…
This is precisely the situation I had in mind for an insincerely negative facial expression.
Thanks,
-Ed.
There is good reason for that expression, btw. When someone is happy, muscles along the side of their eyes contract and they get little crows’ feet as well as smiling. It’s difficult to fake the eye muscle contraction, so by observing someone’s eyes you can get a sense of whether or not their smile is feigned.
The muscles associated with anger are under your conscious control. (Furrow your brow, flare your nostrils, glare, tighten your lips). So false anger is difficult to distinguish from real anger, unless you’re purposely only engaging one of the sets of muscles (pouty lips).
The pouty-lips expression I’m thinking of, which is often affected, is also called a “moue”.