The Lingo of Body Language

This verb usually has an object, as in “He furrowed his brow.” To the best of our knowledge, the brow is the only part of the human body that can be furrowed: wrinkled up, in other words. What does a furrowed brow mean? Sometimes, it conveys thoughtfulness: you might furrow your brow when you want to look deep in thought. This word also has a connotation of concern: people furrow their brow when they’re worried or in disapproval of something. It’s almost a frown for your forehead.

Know anyone who constantly talks with their hands? They like to gesticulate: make a lot of gestures.

To glower is to scowl: make a mean face at someone. Glowering is often accompanied by sulking.

This is one of the most painful words: it’s an unpleasant, often exaggerated, facial expression that we all make when stepping on a tack, hearing a horrible joke, or experiencing anything that causes discomfort. A grimace can be voluntary or involuntary. Only the toughest of the tough will not grimace when touching a hot stove, but anyone grimace to make a point or dramatize a pain.

This is a wrinkly word mainly applied to the lips. “Pucker up!” means about the same as “Give me a kiss!” When you pucker, you press your lips together and push them outward. On a less romantic note, we also make a puckered face when eating something sour.

To recoil is to literally be taken aback: we recoil when we’re scared or startled. If an enormous skeleton with a flaming head popped out of your sock drawer, you would definitely recoil. Anything surprising or horrifying can make you recoil, and the word doesn’t just apply to people. The blast of a gun also has a recoil effect that can be jarring for the person shooting.

A shudder is kind of like a shiver. We shiver — tremble slightly — when it’s cold. We make the similar movement of shuddering when given terrible or terrifying news. People in horror movies do a lot of shuddering, which is understandable when your significant other is possessed by demons or you’re being menaced by a disembodied head. This term is first found in Shakespeare, but people have surely been shuddering as long as there have been people.

This is a useful word (and our favorite yoga position). When you slouch, you slump back in your chair or couch, creating the kind of posture that would make a chiropractor weep. Unhealthy as it might be, slouching is pretty comfortable from time to time, especially when slouching back in front of a TV set. Some people slouch forward when walking, which is probably even worse for you. The more you slouch, the harder it is to straighten up.

A smirk is a smile with attitude. Smirking shows contempt.

A sneer is a contemptuous cousin of the smile and frown. When you sneer at someone, you’re showing disgust, disapproval, disappointment, etc. A sneer usually involves turning one side of your mouth upward or downward dramatically. This is a very theatrical facial expression: in movies, the most likely folks to be sneering are serial killers, terrorists, or costumed clowns fighting Batman.

If you have less than 20/20 vision, looking at anything without your glasses is a challenge — unless you squint. To squint is to scrunch your eyes up, which sounds like it’s not recommended by doctors, but just feels right when you really need to examine something closely. On the TV show Bones, characters referred to forensic scientists as squints, because they were always squinting at evidence.

Wincing is similar to grimacing: we usually wince in pain, and it usually involves a scrunching up of the face, almost like a squint. You might wince when stubbing your toe, and you can wince at a friend’s bad joke. Either way, a wince says, “Ouch.”