Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use frown in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Frown means a wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration. Example: “She frowned when I told her the news.”

Examples of frown by meaning

nounA downturn of the corners of the mouth, typically expressing sadness.

  • The smile and the frown are both indicated and the operation of a motor driven flasher causes the face to look happy and sad in turn.1911 December, “Facial Expression Electric Sign”, in Popular Electricity, volume iv, number 8, Chicago, page 714

verbTo have a frown on one's face.

  • She frowned when I told her the news.

verbTo manifest displeasure or disapprobation; to look with disfavour or threateningly.

  • Noisy gossip in the library is frowned upon.

verbTo repress or repel by expressing displeasure or disapproval; to rebuke with a look.

  • Let us frown the impudent fellow into silence.

verbTo communicate by frowning.

  • Frank frowned his displeasure with my proposal.
  • Copling glanced at the heading and signature, then read the contents and frowned annoyance.1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards...

More sentences with frown

  • Though Islam allows polygamy, it is frowned upon in many contemporary Muslim societies.From the entry polygamy
  • In a decidedly petulant manner she sat with crossed arms and a frown.From the entry decidedly
  • Some religious sects frown upon any games of chance, even if no gambling is involved.From the entry game of chance
  • What's with Jim lately? He always has a frown on his face.From the entry what's with
  • Even if it's not illegal, plagiarism is usually frowned upon.From the entry plagiarism
  • Many frowns were seen on the faces of the crowd.From the entry frowns
  • Coach frowns on smoking, even in the off-season.From the entry frown on
  • Historians frowned upon his romanticization of the war.From the entry romanticization
  • It is typically frowned upon to stream snipe another person.From the entry stream snipe
  • She frowned and crossed her arms.From the entry cross
  • Smiling takes fewer muscles than frowning.From the entry smiling
  • As she pored over the company's bewildering tax documents, she furrowed her brows, wrinkled her nose, and began to frown her befuddlement.From the entry furrow
  • This town frowns at scandalous behavior.From the entry frown at
  • Have you spoken with Information Technology about this little workaround? And with Legal? You know that both of them frown on shadow IT because it's a big security risk, right?From the entry information technology
  • “Is it drugs?” I prompted when he frowned but remained silent.2021, Tracey Drew, Knitted and Knifed: (A Humorous & Heart-warming Cozy Mystery), Icon Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 38. From the entry knifed
  • Lizabeth frowned as Grant bent down to pick up the fallen clubs.2015, Darlene Gardner, Three's Comedy: A Boxed Set of Romantic Comedies. From the entry Lizabeth
  • He frowns then wipes the sweat from off of his face.2013, Donald O. Kelly, From the Mind of a Lunatic, page 131. From the entry from off of
  • “I never drink more than two glasses of wine.” She frowned.2011, Joan Kilby, chapter 13, in In His Good Hands, Toronto, Ont.: Harlequin, →ISBN, page 231. From the entry s'
  • Frowning, Guld stepped forward, but was brought up short by the guardsman's hand.2010, Steven Erikson, The First Collected Tales of Bauchelain and Korbal Broach, →ISBN. From the entry bring up short
  • “Is this enough?” The man frowned as he inspected the coin.2009, Jody Wallace, Survival of the Fairest. From the entry portpass
  • She is frowning, hiding her nervousness of Suzy’s presence behind the Jafaican babble.2007 June 28, María Alvarez, Mirror, Mirror, Fig Tree, →ISBN, page 88, →ISBN. From the entry Jafaican
  • You see, a frowning bureaucratess from Cambridge, one Rebecca Bowtell, was along for the ride.2007, James T. Bennett, “Pulling Out Our Tongues: The Assault on Language”, in The Politics of American Feminism: Gender Conflict in…. From the entry bureaucratess
  • Chatiquette prescribes what behavior is frowned upon and what the sanctions are.2006, Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media. From the entry chatiquette
  • Only tourists looking for cheap lodgings were frowned upon by the new hôtelier.2003 February 28, John Kiser, The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria, →ISBN. From the entry hôtelier
  • “Verlein looked in no shape to be storming anyone's holding,” the bladebreaker said, frowning.2003, Terry Mcgarry, The Binder's Road, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 501. From the entry bladebreaker
  • “Did you ever see,”—the barrister's wife was frowning now—"a bottomful of monkeys?2002, Patrick White, Riders in the Chariot, page 323. From the entry bottomful
  • She continued, frowning, “He’s not used to being a grandfather, either.1993, Joan Davenport Carris, chapter 1, in Stolen Bones, Boston, Mass.; Toronto, Ont.; London: Little, Brown and Company, →ISBN, page 4. From the entry grandsonly
  • The one I have has a little smiley face and a little frowning face.1992, Lora Brody, “Welcome to Your Kitchen”, in The Kitchen Survival Guide: A Hand-holding Kitchen Primer with 130 Recipes to Get You…. From the entry nuke
  • The woman frowned and tinkered with one of the cheap brooches that held her shoulderstraps.1992, Sheelagh Kelly, chapter 20, in Jorvik: A Tale of the Last Viking, London: Century, →ISBN, page 395. From the entry shoulderstrap
  • Her facial expressions swing from a pugnacious frown to an impish grin.1984 June, Kaye Northcott, “Campaign 84: Only a Heartbeat Away: Will the Next Vice President of the United States be a Woman?”, in Deirdre…. From the entry veepstakes
  • “It would be most irregular Grandpa!” says Miss Cecily frowning and tapping her foot.1967, Barbara Sleigh, Jessamy, Sevenoaks, Kent: Bloomsbury, published 1993, →ISBN, page 33. From the entry neither here nor there
  • Rufus stuck out his tongue at Vivaldo, who was watching him with a faintly quizzical frown.1962, James Baldwin, Another Country, New York, N. Y.: The Dial Press, published January 1963, page 42. From the entry stick one's tongue out
  • She frowned, hearing Lim Cheng Po's voice, so English, so refined, so very English upper-class.1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 469. From the entry aitch
  • She continued to frown as she filled Bony's cup and added brandy to her own.1950, Arthur W. Upfield, chapter 11, in The Bachelors of Broken Hill. From the entry fill

Meaning of frown

  1. noun A wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration.
  2. noun A downturn of the corners of the mouth, typically expressing sadness.
  3. noun Any facial expression that indicates disapproval or displeasure.

Full definition of frown

Questions about frown in a sentence

How do you use frown in a sentence?
Frown is used as a noun and verb. For example: “She frowned when I told her the news.”
What is a short sentence with frown?
“She frowned and crossed her arms.”
What does frown mean?
Frown means a wrinkling of the forehead with the eyebrows brought together, typically indicating displeasure, severity, or concentration.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: frown (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use frown in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/frown. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.