Face vs. Visage vs. Figure in French
A newsletter subscriber asks about the usage of French words face, visage, and figure. Click to see the reply!
Bonjour tout le monde !
If you are one of the close to 20,000 subscribers of my weekly newsletter, you’d know that I answer questions from readers every week.
The questions could be anything from language, travel, culture, and anything about France. I know that some of the questions are also on the minds of other French learners, so here, I am sharing with you some of the questions and my answers to them.
Question:
What is the proper or best usage of:face, visage, and figure?
Michael, California
My answer:
A very tricky question here, Michael ! Basically, all three have more or less the same meaning as face in English but with some nuances in the usage.
- Face is the side of something (for example, the north face of a mountain). For a person’s face, it appears in medical language (une lésion à la face = a wound on the face) and in insults such as face de rat (rat face). It also occurs in neutral expressions such as se voiler la face (to refuse to face reality); it is not limited to medicine and insults.
- Visage is the most commonly used one. For example : Elle a un beau visage. She has a beautiful face.
- Figure can mean an external shape or a person’s face. It is an ordinary word, not necessarily slang: se laver la figure means to wash one’s face. In expressions such as Tu fais une drôle de figure, it refers to someone’s facial expression or appearance, perhaps looking sad or preoccupied.
For a neutral everyday word for someone’s face, I recommend visage. Be careful with insults built with face, while recognising that face also occurs in medical and neutral expressions.
I hope this helps.
Frédéric
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