mien1
/miːn
/noun
A person’s appearance or manner, especially as an indication of their character or mood: he has a cautious, academic mien...
- Ever the courtier alert to the slightest imperfections in his outward mien, the Earl is accustomed to checking his physical appearance in the glass.
- I am taking some small pride in my impassive mien when particularly hard gusts push the boat over further, or rogue waves wash through the cockpit.
- He delivers his declaration not with reckless bravado but with a dignified, quiet, middle-management-lifer assurance, in keeping with his general mien.
Synonyms
appearance, look, expression, countenance, face, front, aspect, aura, demeanour, comportment, attitude, air, presence, manner, bearing, carriage, deportment, stance
Origin
Early 16th century: probably from French mine 'expression', influenced by obsolete demean 'bearing, demeanour' (from demean2).
Rhymes
Mien2
/mjɛn/noun
Another term for Yao2.Jonsson provides an intriguing example of how local ethnicity and national integration are contested through sports competition and games among the Mien of northern Thailand....
- They were ethnic Mien, fiercely independent ‘hill people’ who had been recruited by the CIA to fight the Communist insurgency in Laos and Vietnam, with the explicit promise of safe haven in America if they lost.
- The differences and origins of the six tribes (Akha, Lisu, Karen, Hmong, Mien and Lahu) are well presented, both pictorially and in words in the introduction.