phiz

[fiz]

noun

Slang.

1. face.

Phiz

¹

/ fɪz /

noun

1. real name Hablot Knight Browne. 1815–82, English painter, noted for his illustrations for Dickens' novels

phiz

²

/ fɪz /

noun

1. Also called: phizog. slang,  the face or a facial expression

   an ugly phiz

Word History and Origins

Origin of phiz¹

Abbreviation of physiognomy

Word History and Origins

Origin of phiz¹

C17: colloquial shortening of _physiognomy

Example Sentences

Theirs is a bouncy, jaunty take on Austen, with a 10-member cast taking on an assortment of roles that are always clearly defined, sometimes as graphically as caricatures by the Dickens illustrator Phiz.

From New York Times

Accordingly, some most ludicrous caricatures might have been taken, had Cruikshank or Phiz been of the party instead of myself.

From Project Gutenberg

The old horse-trough, as depicted by “Phiz” in the original illustrated title-page of the book, has long since given place to local alteration and improvement; but “hereabouts it stood.”

From Project Gutenberg

My Phiz bids me say that mice-catching is long, weary, anxious work at the best, and she is quite certain she would die if compelled to make a living at it.

From Project Gutenberg

Sir John Falstaff's lowlife cronies have the spiky angularity of a Phiz illustration to a Dickens novel.

From The Guardian

Related Words

• air 
• aspect 
• light 
• look 
• mask 
• surface 
• top