frown at (someone or something)

1. To look at someone or something with displeasure. Ted frowned at me as though I was the one who'd made that callous remark. Sadie frowned at the math problem that was giving her trouble. Don't frown at me—Mom's the one who said you have to be in bed by 8:30!

2. To express or exhibit disapproval of someone or something. I just know my mother frowns at my decision, but it's what I want. If people frown at such relationships, they're just living in the past. Your daughter was born to be an artist. I know it's an unconventional career, but don't frown at it.

frown on (something)

To disapprove or show one's disapproval of something. I just know my mother frowns on my decision to go to a state school. If people frown on such relationships, they're just living in the past. Your daughter was born to be an artist. I know it's an unconventional career, but don't frown on it.

See also: frown, on

frown upon (something)

To show one's disapproval of something. I just know my mother frowns upon my decision to go to a state school. Please stop frowning upon my choice and support me! Your daughter was born to be an artist. I know it's an unconventional career, but don't frown upon it.

frown at someone or something

to scowl at someone or something. Please don't frown at me. I didn't do anything. Frank frowned at the dog and gave it a kick.

frown on someone or something

to disapprove of someone or something; to show displeasure or disapproval of someone or something. The Internal Revenue Service frowns on tax cheaters. Aunt Clara always seemed to frown on my cousin for some reason.

See also: frown, on

frown on

Regard with disapproval or distaste, as in Pat frowns on bad language. this idiom transfers the disapproving facial expression to the thought it expresses. [Late 1500s]

See also: frown, on

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

frown on

or frown upon

To disapprove of something: The administration frowns on late submissions of the required forms. My parents frown upon loud music.

See also: frown, on

See also:

References in periodicals archive

In superiorly placed incisions, frown incision induces lesser net cylinder when compared to superior straight and superior smile incisions.

Clinical study of various types of incisions in small incision cataract surgery in relation to their astigmatism out come

The experiment followed a 2x2 within subject design with two physical activity conditions (activity and rest) that each included two facial expression conditions (smile and frown).

The effects of smiling and frowning on perceived affect and exertion while physically active

Banishing frown lines with Botox can indeed have social repercussions, says Nicolas Vermeulen, a psychologist at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.

Effects of botox go beyond the face: freezing the frown muscle may hamper emotional sensitivity

NIGHT ON THE FROWN: But Susan was only kidding in fan photos outside the pub

SuBo's cheap night

According to an amusing little study, by paralysing the frown muscles that ordinarily are engaged when we feel angry, Botox short-circuits the emotion itself.

Hello Botox, Bye-Bye Sadness

Thirty patients with established hyperactive glabellar frown lines were treated.

Botulinum A exotoxin for glabellar folds: a double-blind, placebo-controlled study with an electromyographic injection technique

"When the person tries to frown they can't," says Rebecca.

Put the needle on it; cool How young is too young for Botox?

So there is a possibility that states which frown on such unions will still have to regard people as "married" if they are from other states that do consider them legally bound together.

Same-Sex Attraction A Parents' Guide

I see the frown on the parent's face when he says his son is majoring in "liberal arts." What he would rather say is that his son is majoring in accounting, computer science, engineering, or some discipline that he feels is a jump-start to a well-paying, and hopefully, stable career.

The liberal arts fight back

From time to time, Miles falls back on cliches, as when he notes with a frown that by the start of the '70s "the revolution was being commodified." Such a pose ignores that "the revolution" was in many ways built around items for sale--ranging from record albums to drugs to psychedelic trousers to acres of pristine communeland.

Hippie heaven: the liberating legacy of those "hideous, spotty little teenagers"

He frowned a big frown and walked to the back of the bus.

Just Jimmy

Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved injections of Botox, the toxin that causes botulism food poisoning, "to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows." It quickly became the fastest-growing cosmetic procedure in the U.S.

The skin game. (Special Feature)

When the FDA approved Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox Cosmetic) to temporarily improve the appearance of frown lines last April, it was the first time most Americans had ever heard the word "Botox".

Botox for MS symptoms? (news)

According to The Medical Letter on Drugs and Therapeutics, while Botox can temporarily reduce or remove frown lines, it could cause eyelid or eyebrow drooping, double vision, reduced blinking, and corneal ulceration.

Botox injections could be unsafe. (Side Effects)

A For several years now, I have wanted to do something about the laugh and frown lines on my face, but I didn't want to go to the extent of routine plastic surgery.

The botox craze. (Expert Advice on Health and Fitness)