English

A frowny face.

Noun

frowny face ‎(plural frowny faces)

1. A simplified representation or emoticon representing a frowning face.
   • 2011, Ramona Emerson, “Emoticons At Work: Unprofessional Or Necessary Evil?”, The Huffington Post, 28 December, 2011,

     First off, smiley faces are the ONLY kind of emoticon allowed in business correspondence. No shocked faces. No winks. And no frowny faces. A frowny face is somehow inherently sarcastic, and is never a good way to convey actual sadness or sympathy.

   • 2016, Darryl Sterdan, “ZAYN’s ‘Mind of Mine’ and Gwen Stefani’s ‘This is What the Truth Feels Like’ top this week’s new music,” The Toronto Star, 24 March, 2016,

     Both halves feature lyrics that are so teen-girly they sound like they were written in pink ink in a padlocked diary with hearts and frowny faces for punctuation.

Related terms

• smiley
• smiley face