Appearance

When we speak of somebody’s appearance we mean his (her) figure, hair, feet, hands, etc. In describing the figure we mention the build. A man or a woman may be solidly built, delicately built, well- made. The figure may be slender, unright or stooping, thin or stout (fat - it is more polite to call a person stout, as fat implies the idea of something unpleasant). Thick in this meaning is used for parts of the body, but not when speaking of the figure as a whole.

A person may be tall, short or middle-sized. The arm may be short, long, thin, shapely. The hand may be small, large, plump, delicate. The fingers may be thin, thick, short, long, bony. The legs may be short, long, fine, shapely. The feet (which are at the very ends of the legs) may be small, large, flat, narrow, pretty. We have five toes on each foot. The manner of walking is called the walk. One’s steps may be light, heavy, firm.

The head is covered with hair. Hair may be short, long, straight, curly, wavy, crisp. As to the colour hair may be black, dark, red, brown, auburn, chestnut, golden, fair, grey, silver, white. Women have their hair done in various styles at the hair dresser’s. Men go to have a shave, to have their haircut, to have their whiskers, beards, moustache trimmed. According to the fashion women’s hair may be bobbed, shingled, waved or done in a knot. Women may wear their hair long, short, in plaits, in locks, some may have a fringe. Some men lose their hair and go bald.

The face may be squared, oval, round, thin, plump. The colour of the skin, especially of the face, is called the complexion. It may be dark, fair, ruddy, rosy, fresh, pale.

The forehead may be large, broad, narrow, high, low, lined, wrinkled.

The eyes are protected by the eyelids with the eyelashes on their edges. The eyes may be of different colours: dark, black, hazel, brown, blue, grey, green. The eyes may be deep-set, wide-set or close-set.

The cheeks may be rosy, pink or pale. Many old people or ill people have hollow cheeks.

The nose may be straight, hooked, aquiline, tumed-up or snub.

The shape of the lips makes them well-cut, firm, thin, full.

The teeth may be even, uneven, large, small, tiny.

When a woman’s face and figure delights us we say: She is beautiful, good-looking. When we speak of a man we use the words handsome or good-looking, but not beautiful. The words attractive and pretty help us to describe a person pleasant to look at.

If there’s nothing particular in one’s appearance we call it common. To characterize somebody’s appearance in a negative way we use the words plain or ugly. When we ask for a description of a person we do not know we say: What does he (she) look like? or What is he (she) like? If we speak about a person whom we know but have not seen for a long time, we say: How does he (she) look like? If a person resembles somebody we say: He looks like his father or He takes after his father.

Twins are usually alike as two peas, but sometimes they are alike as chalk and cheese.

We say that a person looks his age when he looks neither older nor younger than he really is. But if he looks younger or older we say: He looks young (old) for his age. When the person looks younger than he is we say that he is well-preserved. When a person takes great care of his appearance we say that he is well-groomed.