Dictionary

greenfaced en · ADJ

Etymology

From green + faced.

Meanings

1. Having a green face or appearance.
   • Doctor Sax bangs his knotty cane on the door of an Isadora Duncan-type party in the Castle in the Twenties when the batty lady owned it, when they see who's at the door all greenfaced and leering and blazing-maniac-eyed they scream and faint […] 1987, Jack Kerouac, Doctor Sax: Faust Part Three, page 33:
   • “This is ungracious! You better mind your own business,” he whispers almost greenfaced. 2008, Mina A. A., Road Atlas to Love, page 90:
   • It was already late and they had to start for Raleigh with their mouths full of roastbeef to catch the plane, leaving Sally sour and silent and greenfaced to putter in the kitchen and to keep an eye on the kids. 1949, John Dos Passos, “In The Field”, in The Grand Design, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company; Cambridge, Mass.: The Riverside Press, section II (The Ship of State), page 140:
   • Where greenfaced garden set att Flora's feet, Makes Nature's beauty quick Apelles greet... 1835, Richard Hay, James Maidment, Genealogie of the Sainteclaires of Rosslyn, page 29:
   • Quite a few of us made trips to the rail, and by the time the squall abated and we reached shore, numerous would-be sailors were greenfaced and swore to take the plane next time. 2010, Alan Cohen, A Daily Dose of Sanity: A Five-Minute Soul Recharge for Every Day of the Year, page 19:

Forms