Word.ws English Dictionary

countenances

countenances is the plural of countenance.

Meaning of countenance

Noun

countenance (countable and uncountable, plural countenances)

  1. Appearance, especially the features and expression of the face.
    • How Cownterfet Cowntenaunce of the new get / With Crafty Conueyauance dothe smater and flater, / And Cloked Collucyoun is brought in to clater / With Courtely Abusyoun; […]1523, John Skelton, “A Ryght Delectable Tratyse vpon a Goodly Garlande or Chapelet of Laurell, […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd...
  2. Favour; support; encouragement.
    • Thou hast made him[…]glad with thy countenance.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 21:6
  3. (obsolete) Superficial appearance; show; pretense.
    • The election being done, he made countenance of great discontent thereat.a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, edited by Margaret Ascham, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […]...
  4. Calm facial expression, composure, self-control.

See all 5 meanings of countenance

Questions about countenances

What is countenances the plural of?
Countenances is the plural of countenance.

Words near countenances in the dictionary

  1. Countegany
  2. countenance
  3. countenanced
  4. countenancer
  5. countenancers
  6. countenances
  7. countenanceth
  8. countenancing
  9. countenaunce
  10. countenaunces
  11. counter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: countenances (page history and authors); countenance (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “countenances.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/countenances. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.